What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th November 2020.

The 33rd annual Tokyo International Film Festival is currently running from 31st October though until 9th November. The official website reads that given the current circumstances with the pandemic and the limitations it has necessitated, this year's Tokyo International Film Festival may take on a slightly different character than in previous years. We would most like to emphasise the power of art and culture, especially film to enrich our daily lives even as we weather this pandemic. We hope you will come to the festival to enjoy cinema on the big screen with quality sound, and that the experience will provide a renewed sense of hope for the future. Needless to say, Japan is not the only country suffering from the effects of the pandemic. The Tokyo International Film Festival therefore wishes to further international solidarity through cinema.

The main sections of this years films being showcased are Tokyo Premier 2020, Special Screenings, Japan Now, World Focus, Japanese Animation, Japanese Classics, and Youth.

The Tokyo Premier 2020 section focuses on World and Asian Premieres showcasing thirty-two films from across the globe, by both veterans and emerging Directors. Maintaining the usual balance among regions and the selection criteria of TIFF’s three main competition sections, this special lineup will allow audiences to enjoy, on an equal footing, a diversity of films from international and Japanese Directors in all stages of their careers. Among those films featured in this section are : 

* 'Underdog' - drama and action from Japan, by Director Masaharu Take - World Premier screening. A man sticks with boxing while dwelling in the humble glories of his past. His life hits rock bottom but he tries to crawl out of the pit and shine again.
* 'After Love' - drama from England, France and Saudi Arabia, by Director Aleem Khan - Asian Premier. Mary, lost in grief after her husband's death, discovers his secret and crosses the English Channel.
* 'Alaya' - drama from China, by Director Shi Meng - World Premier. A man becomes a hermit after losing his son. An assaulted woman closes her mind. A girl was born illegitimately. As time passes by, their fates begin to move.
* 'Apples' - drama from Greece, by Director Christos Nikou - Asian Premier showing. An amnesiac man gets medical treatment but is left without memories.
* 'Ashes on a Road Trip' - drama comedy from India, by Director Mangesh Joshi - World Premier. A family patriarch dies. He leaves an envelope for the family, not to be opened until his ashes are scattered in his favorite places. His family takes a trip to fulfil his last wish.
* 'The Bike Thief' - drama from England and Romania, by Director Matt Chambers - World Premier screening. A Romanian immigrant in London feeds his family through delivery work. As their life gets tougher, his motorbike is stolen.
* 'Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots' - drama from Japan, by Director Ryohei Yoshino - World Premier. Horigai spends her boring days waiting to graduate from college. As she hangs out with friends, she begins to realise the violence and sorrow behind their ordinary lives.
* 'Fan Girl' - drama from the Philippines, by Director Antoinette Jadaone - World Premier. A starstruck girl sneaks into an Actor's house and sees a horrifying truth.
* 'First Job' - drama from Japan, by Director Syunsuke Koyama - World Premier. A story of two men in an ethical maze. Yamashita accepts an offer from Anzai to photograph the corpse of his baby. As the job proceeds, reality hits them in different ways.

* 'Forgiveness' - drama from Turkey, by Director Cem Ozay - World Premier. A boy, unloved by his strict father, accidentally fires at his little brother. Will the bereaved family, with father in shock, silent mother and boy in despair, find hope?
* 'The Last Bath' - drama from Portugal and France, by Director David Bonneville - World Premier. In a sun-drenched remote village, a nun takes care of her lonely nephew. As they grow attached to each other, the aunt feels conflicted.
* 'Moral Order' - drama from Portugal, by Director Mario Barroso - Asian Premier. Based on the true story of the women who fought against the male-dominated upper class in the early 20th century.
* 'Mr. Suzuki - A Man in God's Country' - Sci-Fi fantasy from Japan, by Director Omoi Sasaki - World Premier screening. In a city where unmarried people are drafted to solve the declining birthrate, 44-year-old unmarried Yoshiko tries to find a marriage partner in order to escape from recruitment.
* 'No Choice' - drama from Iran, by Director Reza Dormishian - World Premier. A 16-year-old homeless girl repeatedly works as a surrogate mother for money. A human rights attorney tries to rescue her, but inevitably faces difficulties.
* 'The Old Town Girls' - drama from China, by Director Shen Yu - World Premier. A high school girl living with her father and stepmother is visited by her biological mother, who left her soon after birth. They gradually reconcile, but the mother has a heavy debt.

* 'Possessor' - Sci-Fi action fantasy from Canada and the UK, by Director Brandon Cronenberg - Asian Premier. A story about the battle between an assassin and the man she hijacks and remotely controls to serve as an executioner.
* 'Sasaki in My Mind' - drama from Japan, by Director Takuya Uchiyama - World Premier. The story of a would-beAactor, his larger-than-life classmate and their friends all seeking to unfold their past and present.
* 'Sweat' - drama from Poland and Sweden, by Director Magnus von Horn - Asian Premier. A charismatic fitness instructor attracts attention on social media, but her loneliness grows as the emotions of a woman seeking true love and an exit from falsity begin to unravel.
* 'That Was Life' - drama from Spain, by Director David Martin de los Santos - World Premier. Maria's stable, retired life drastically changes when the condition of a young patient sharing a hospital room abruptly worsens.
* 'TiTi' - drama from Iran, by Director Ida Panahendeh - World Premier. Hospitalised elite physicist reaches out to a Roma janitor woman.

For the complete line-up of films being showcased at this years Tokyo International Film Festival, plus plenty more news, views and happenings, you can visit the official website at : https://2020.tiff-jp.net/en/

And so this week we have three latest release new films coming to your local Odeon. We kick off the week with a historical biopic about a famed Polish born French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. We then turn to an Australian doco about the foundations of the feminist movement back in Brisbane in the mid-'60's and how this charted a path for where feminism is at today. And we wrap up the week with a sort of concert film played to a deserted Alexandra Palace by one of Australia's pre-eminent singer, songwriter, composers and authors in a truly unique event. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies 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.

'RADIOACTIVE' (Rated M) - this British biographical film is Directed by Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian born French graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, children's book author and film maker whose previous feature films outings take in 2007's 'Persepolis', 2011's 'Chicken with Plums' and 2014's 'The Voices'. This film is based on the 2010's graphic novel 'Radioactive : Marie & Pierre Curie - A Tale of Love and Fallout' by Lauren Redniss, and saw its World Premier screening as the Closing Night film at TIFF back in September 2019, before its scheduled release due in March this year, which was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19 and released digitally in mid-June. The film has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far and taken just over US$2M at the Box Office.

Following the death of her beloved husband Pierre Curie (Sam Riley), Marie Curie's (Rosamund Pike) commitment to science remains strong as she tries to explain previously unknown radioactive elements. However, it soon becomes terrifyingly evident that her work could lead to applications in medicine that could save thousands of lives, or applications in warfare that could destroy them by the billions. Also starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Aneurin Barnard.

'BRAZEN HUSSIES' (Rated M) - is an Australian documentary film that recounts how a daring and diverse group of women joined forces to defy the status quo, demand equality and create profound social change - contributing to one of the greatest social movements of the 20th Century. The film interweaves freshly uncovered archival footage, personal photographs, memorabilia and lively accounts from the bold women who reignited the feminist movement in Australia between 1965 and 1975, at times at great personal cost. Charting how from humble beginnings in Brisbane in 1965 women began organising around issues such as equal pay, reproductive rights, affordable childcare, and the prevention of family violence and rape. As the story unfolds, these issues go from being dismissed as the outrageous demands of a few 'brazen hussies’ to becoming crucial elements on the platforms of Australia’s major political parties, and how the issues demanded by these women fifty years ago have created a path for where feminism finds itself today. Directed and written for the screen by Catherine Dwyer.

'IDIOT PRAYER : NICK CAVE ALONE AT ALEXANDRA PALACE' (Rated M) - this film has Nick Cave playing his songs at the piano in a rarely seen stripped back form, from early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, right through to the most recent seventeenth studio Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album, 'Ghosteen'. Recorded in June 2020 and initially imagined as an online only event, fans will now be able to watch the film in cinemas as an extended cut featuring four unseen performances. Recorded as the UK slowly emerged from its first stages of lockdown and conceived as a reaction to the confinement and isolation of the preceding months, Idiot Prayer is a souvenir from a strange and precarious moment in history. The performance was filmed by award winning Cinematographer Robbie Ryan ('The Favourite', 'Marriage Story', 'American Honey') in Alexandra Palace’s stunning West Hall in London.

With three new release films 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 in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 21st August 2014.

This week we have a low key offering of new releases that are far removed from the likes of what we have seen in more recent times. There are no mega budget action flicks here, no Superhero instalments, no horror, no otherworldly SciFi, no crime thrillers, no zombie gore fests, and no end-of-the-world apocalyptic offerings - just a bunch of films that are flying gently under the radar that are likely to find an audience for the stories, the stars and the spectacle they provide. We have the English lads abroad Down Under in Australia for the second big screen instalment of this very popular UK TV series; we have an explosives expert notching up his first century and on the run; we have a voyage to the bottom of the sea; an insight into the day in the life of an iconic mysterious musician; and a story of two men separated by 100 years whose lives & legacies become intertwined and from which millions will in time benefit!

If you get out to a movie in the coming week to watch one of these Previewed below, or any one of a host of others currently on general release, then drop me a line in the comments box of this Blog and let my other Reader know what you think! Enjoy your experience.

FREEDOM (Rated M) - This film is the journey of two men separated by one hundred years, both searching for freedom. The first is Samuel Woodward (Cuba Gooding Jnr.) an 1856 slave whose story we join as he and his family escape from their plantation near Richmond, Virginia. Aided and abetted by a secret underground network they escape north to Canada all the while hunted by Plimpton (William Sadler) who is relentless in his pursuit. Knowing what he, his family and his forefathers have endured for decades before at the hands and mercies of their white enslavers, Woodward must decide on a path to freedom, or a path to revenge. One hundred years earlier Captain John Newton is at the helm of a slave ship travelling from Africa to America with a cargo of slaves ready to occupy the plantations and farms of the rich landowners of the New World. On board this vessel is the great grandfather of Samuel Woodward who's fate rests in the hands of Captain Newton. The voyage will change Newton's life forever and carve out a legacy that will give Samuel inspiration one hundred years hence, as it will millions of lives for generations to come. From first time Director Peter Cousens, but no stranger to the world of stage and screen, this is likely to strike a chord with lovers of the genre.

THE INBETWEENERS 2 (Rated MA15+) - clearly the first big screen outing for these teenage likely lads was enough of a box office hit to warrant a re-run, and so with a change of scenery we find our young heroes heading Down Under to go walkabout, throw a shrimp on the barbie and open a tinnie! Directed and written by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley we have the four same lads (older now by about six months after the first film) decamping to the other side of the world for some sun, sand, sea, and shenanigans. And so Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), and Neil (Blake Harrison) visit Jay (James Buckley) enjoying his gap year Down Under and arrive in our fair sun drenched land to regroup, reunite, and reward themselves with adventure. Along the way they get involved with girls, go bush, get lost, almost die, get rescued and all live happily ever after having learnt something about themselves and each other! Voila - job done!

THE ONE HUNDRED-YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED (Rated M) - This Swedish film is likely to delight, and don't be put off by the fact that it is about an old centenarian codger trying to rekindle the last vestiges of his life before he pops his clogs! Robert Gustafsson stars as 100 year old Allan Karisson (in reality he is 50) a man who has changed the course of history and has met and befriended many world famous leaders and personalities in his time as a dynamite expert. Holed up in an old folks home where he has been removed to after blowing up a fox that ate his beloved cat, he decides on his 100th birthday that it's time already to get outta there. What ensues is a voyage of rediscovery, an adventure, a road movie, a brush with various personalities - some good and some not so good, a black comedy, a history lesson and a character study all rolled neatly into a surprisingly delightful little package. The shorts looks great, and based on the best selling book by Jonas Jonasson and Directed by Felix Herngren this might just be a sleepy little hit that looks quirky enough to inspire you out to a theatre on a cold Winter's night!

20,000 DAYS ON EARTH (Rated CTC) - this doco-movie tells the fictitious story of a day in the life of Nick Cave - the mysterious iconic musician as we chart his creative processes, his artistic influences, the people and situations that inspire him, his collaborators, friends, mentors and what makes the man tick. Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard this is neither fact nor fiction, neither rock bio-pic nor concert epic - we chart through his life, his early years upon which he continues to draw for inspiration and his own history that shapes his songs, his screenplays and his story telling. He opens up with friends (Kylie Minogue and Ray Winstone) and a shrink (real or not Darian Leader?) and we gain an insight into the creative genius, the man at work, the performer and his private musings.

JAMES CAMERON'S DEEP SEA CHALLENGE (3D Rated PG) - Director of 'Avatar', 'The Abyss', 'Terminator', 'Titanic', 'Aliens' etc. the most successful Movie Director of all time James Cameron is also an adventurer. Having ventured to the bottom of the ocean to film the Titanic in its final resting place, he chose the bottom of the Mariana Trench for his next epic voyage of discovery - the deepest place on Earth - seven miles down under the ocean surface somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. To boldly go where no man has gone before and supported by The National Geographic magazine this charts his groundbreaking (or ocean diving) journey in a single man capsule down through the wild blue nether regions of the ocean to discover what lies beneath, and then film it all in glorious eye popping 3D Hi-Def Technicolour for us to gawp in wonder at the never before seen sights to behold. It is an epic journey not likely to be repeated any time soon because of the obvious dangers (and costs) involved, and on this basis it should be a film that all should see from an adventure, education, historical and scientific standpoint - a film for all ages!

There it is - once more five very different offerings from this weeks new releases to surprise, delight and tantalise you. What ever you choose to see over the coming week, share your experiences with us all at Odeon Online, and don't be shy!

Movies . . . see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-