What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 29th July 2021.

The 20th annual Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is currently running from 23rd July through until 1st August and is the biggest international film festival in Romania and is held in the fourth largest Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in the historic province of Transilvania. The festival's main goal is the promotion of cinematic art by presenting some of the most innovative and spectacular films of the moment that feature both originality and independence of expression, that reflect unusual cinematic language forms or focus on current trends in youth culture. Dedicated to first and second time Directors, the Official Competition focuses on discovering new voices. In 2011, TIFF was accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations), which places it among the forty most important festivals in the world.

The Opening Gala feature film was 'The People Upstairs' from Spain and Directed by Cesc Gay and concerns two couples, one living upstairs from the other, who explore the complexities of modern relationships over dinner one evening. The Closing Night feature film is the Italian drama 'The Best Years' Directed by Gabriele Muccino and tells the story from the 1980's to almost the present day, told through the life of four friends, during forty years of loves, aspirations, success and failures.

This year there are ten films in Official Competition with awards being presented for Best Film, Best Director, Special Jury Prize, Best Performance with the jury also being able to award two Special Mentions. There is also an Audience Award within this category. Only national Romanian premiers are considered in the Official Competition. Those ten films are :-

* 'Apples' from Greece and Directed by Christos Nikou. This drama film is set amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, and here a middle-aged man finds himself enrolled in a recovery programme designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities. 

* 'That Was Life' from Spain and Directed by David Martin de los Santos this drama debut feature centres around two Spanish women from different generations who forge an unlikely friendship while sharing a hospital room in Belgium. 

* 'Marygoround' from Poland and Directed and Co-Written by Daria Woszek here we see a lonely, small-town, grocery store worker, living an uneventful boring life. On the eve of her 50th birthday however, her senses and imagination suddenly come alive.

* 'Pebbles' from India and Directed and Written by P. S. Vinothraj. Two arid hamlets separated by a distance of 13kms sees an alcoholic wife beater embark on a journey, on foot, from one to the other, dragging his young son along to fetch back his wife whom he had chased away.

* 'Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time' from Hungary and is Written and Directed by Lili Horvath. Here a neurosurgeon returns to Budapest from here comfortable home in America to reunite with the love of her life - a man who says they have never met. 

* 'The Flood Won't Come' is Written and Directed by Marat Sargsyan, and in this Lithuanian drama film a famous Colonel, who served in different countries for many years, finds himself in a strange situation when civil war breaks out in his native country. 

* 'The Last Bath' from Portugal and Co-Written and Directed by David Bonneville, this drama offering sees a nun who is called upon to adopt her fifteen year-old nephew, and as a consequence religion, family and love become intertwined. 

* 'The Pink Cloud' from Brazil and Written and Directed by Iuli Gerbase in her feature film making debut, this is a Sci-Fi drama film set following a toxic and mysterious pink cloud that appears in the skies above, and when a woman finds herself stuck in a flat with a man she just met, the events that unfold change her life in a way she never expected. 

* 'The Whaler Boy' is Written, Directed and Edited by Philipp Yuryev in his feature film debut, this Russian film sees a young Russian whale hunter embark on a perilous journey to America to locate a beautiful girl he met on webcam site. 

* 'What Do We See When We Look At The Sky?' from Georgia and Written, Directed and Edited by Alexandre Koberidze, this film sees a chance encounter on a street corner between a young woman and a man who fall in love at first sight, but an evil spell is cast on them. Will they ever meet again?

The other sections of TIFF comprise 'Romanian Days' - the competitive section for Romanian shorts and features films produced in 2020 and 2021. National premieres have priority in this section. Four awards are presented here - the FIPRESCI Award (International Federation of Film Critics), and for Best Feature Film, Best Short Film and Best Debut. 'Supernova' is the non-competitive showcase of the most significant features of the year, including titles awarded in major international festivals, works by renowned auteurs, national box-office leaders, and audience hits. 'Full Moon' showcases fantasy, thriller, and horror genre features. 'No Limit' is also a non-competitive section dedicated to features that are provocative, controversial, experimental, transgressive, and innovating in both form and content; and 'What's Up, Doc?' is a non-competitive section for Documentaries over sixty minutes run time released after the 1st May 2020.

For all the news, views and low-downs from this years 20th Transilvania International Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.tiff.ro/en

 

With Greater Sydney, where I live, still in COVID lockdown for a further four weeks now ending (at this stage) on Friday 27th August, which means all of our cinema's are closed until this date, which further means that the release of the movies as given below, slated for release this week, will be delayed somewhat across certain parts of Australia at least. That said, these movies will either have been released or are set for an imminent release somewhere in the world, and as Odeon Online has an international audience, I thought it best to carry on regardless. And so, we open with an action adventure based on a Disney theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travellers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles and a supernatural element. Next up, after being recruited by a group of unconventional thieves, a renowned criminal finds himself caught up in an elaborate gold heist that promises to have far-reaching implications on his life and the lives of countless others. This is followed by a darkly-comedic thriller about a lone toll-booth operator on a remote roadway in Wales, with a past that is quickly catching up with him. And we conclude this weeks latest releases with an audio visual documentary that shows the viewer stunning images of forgotten places and buildings we constructed around the world and then left to slowly fall into decay and for nature to reclaim. 

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

'JUNGLE CRUISE' (Rated M) - is an American fantasy adventure film based on the Walt Disney theme park attraction of the same name and is Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra whose prior directorial credits take in the likes of his debut feature 'House of Wax' in 2005, and then 'Orphan', 'The Shallows' and four Liam Neeson actioners 'Unknown', 'Non-Stop', 'Run All Night' and 'The Commuter'. This film has been in gestation since 2004 with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen being attached to the project early on. Initially,  slated for a mid-October 2019 release before being moved to an end of July 2020 release date, and was then further delayed to its current date this week in both Australia and the US due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with its World Premier screening at the Disneyland Resort in California on 24th July. The film reportedly cost US$200M+ to produce. 

Set during the early 20th century, Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) a riverboat Captain takes a British scientist, Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her younger brother, MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) on a mission into the Amazon jungle to find the Tree of Life, which is believed to possess healing powers that could be of great benefit to modern medicine. All the while, the trio must fight against dangerous wild animals, a hot and deadly environment, and a competing German expedition led by Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemmons), and a deadly mercenary hired to guide a rival mission, Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez) that are both  determined to find the tree first. Also starring Paul Giamatti.

'THE MISFITS' (Rated M) - this American heist comedy film is Directed by Renny Harlin whose previous big screen film making credits include 'Die Hard 2', 'Cliffhanger', 'Cutthroat Island', 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', 'Deep Blue Sea', 'Driven' and '12 Rounds' amongst less notable others. This film saw its World Premier screening in South Korea in early June this year, was released Stateside in mid-June, costs in the region of US$15M to produce, has so far grossed US$390K and has generated mostly unfavourable Reviews. Here then, set in the Middle East, master criminal architect Richard Pace (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself caught up in a major gold heist with implications that go far beyond what he could have ever possibly imagined. Also starring Tim Roth and Hermione Corfield. 

'THE TOLL' (Rated MA15+) - this comedy mystery drama thriller from the UK is Directed by the Welshman Ryan Andrew Hooper in his feature film making debut. Brendan (Michael Smiley) works solo shifts in the quietest toll booth in Wales located quite literally in the middle of nowhere, while hiding from a former criminal history where nobody would ever look. When he finally gets rumbled, word of his whereabouts gets out and his enemies head west for revenge. Meanwhile, local traffic cop Catrin's (Annes Elwy) investigation into a simple robbery finds her heading for the booth at precisely the wrong time. Also starring Paul Kaye, Iwan Rheon, Gary Beadle and Julian Glover.  

'HOMO SAPIENS' (Rated G) - this Austrian audio visual cinematic experience was first released in 2016 bringing together the work of a contemporary film maker, Austrian Director, Writer, Cinematographer and Co-Producer here Nikolaus Geyrhalter and Austrian Australian experimental composer Heinz Riegler. With not a single human being seen for the duration of this ninety-four minute film, it is based on long static shots of abandoned buildings and deserted landscapes that have been long forgotten, neglected and fallen into decay by their builders and architects, the people who used to work in them and who used to live there - be they towns, churches, shopping malls, movie theatres, hospitals, prisons or amusement parks which are now overrun by steadily creeping foliage and animal activity of every kind. The film has garnered critical acclaim and from this week gets a limited release in Australia. 

With four 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 coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'FEAR STREET PARTS ONE, TWO and THREE : 1994, 1978 and 1666' - Tuesday 20th July.

Having watched Parts One and Two upon their release, I saw the concluding chapter in the supernatural teen slasher horror 'FEAR STREET TRILOGY' earlier this week, which has been released on Netflix over three consecutive weeks in July - on the 2nd, the 9th and the 16th. Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Leigh Janiak and based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine, the series of three films has a total running time of 5½ hours, was filmed back to back over the course of six months from March to September 2019 and each of the three instalments has received generally positive critical acclaim. 

'FEAR STREET PART ONE : 1994'.

In 1994, at the Shadyside Shopping Mall, Heather Watkins (Maya Hawke), working late as a bookstore employee, is brutally stabbed to death by her unassuming friend Ryan Torres (David W. Thompson), who had previously shown no malice towards her. After murdering her and several other mall employees, Ryan is shot dead by Police. The news channels report the mall massacre as being largely business as usual for Shadyside, which they hail as the murder capital of the United States. Meanwhile, the neighbouring town of Sunnyvale is the complete opposite, and is reported to be one of the safest and wealthiest cities in the whole country. Plenty of the Shadyside teenagers believe this is because the witch, Sarah Fier, placed a curse on the town before being hanged for witchcraft back in 1666. 

Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira) has no time for talk of the Fier witch, her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jnr.) keeps himself busy researching the town's sordid history, her friends Simon (Fred Hichinger) and Kate (Julia Rehwald) sell drugs, and she has recently split up with her closeted girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), who has since moved to Sunnyvale. One night, a car accident in the woods puts Sam in hospital but before being carted off in the ambulance she has a vision of the Fier witch. The next night Deena and her friends visit Sam in hospital when one of Shadyside's past killers murders Peter and a number of others in the hospital. The town's Sheriff Nick Goode (Ashley Zukerman) arrives on the scene and is confronted by a mass of dead bodies and a blood bath. After learning of Sam's vision, the group comes to the conclusion that the car accident disturbed the grave of Sarah Fier and that as Sam touched her bones in her final resting place in a shallow grave in the woods, they also deduce that the killers only want Sam and that they cannot be stopped by reburying the body or killing the killers, for they will just keep on coming back.

Through Josh's collection of historical newspaper articles on the Shadyside killings, they discover that a C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs), was the sole survivor of the Camp Nightwing massacre in 1978, and that she died but was resuscitated. Deena tries to call Berman, but there is no response to her phone call. They hatch a plan to kill and revive Sam using drugs from a pharmacy. Upon ingesting the drugs Sam promptly vomits them up. Inside a supermarket at night, the Shadyside killers attack and murder Simon and Kate with an axe to the head and a bread slicing machine respectively. Deena meanwhile drowns a willing Sam in a fish tank. The killers disappear and Deena revives Sam using EpiPens and CPR. Later that evening, while Sam is at her house, Deena is called back by Berman who tells her that there is no escaping the witch. Sam, now possessed, attacks Deena who in turn subdues and ties her up. 

'FEAR STREET PART TWO : 1978'

The film opens up in 1994 with Deena and Josh Johnson restraining Sam, who remains possessed. All three go to C. Berman's house for help. Reluctantly, Berman allows them inside and begins recounting the events of the Camp Nightwing massacre which occurred on 19th July 1978. Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sink) from Shadyside is accused of stealing by a Sunnyvale camper, and her friends. They rope her to a tree and start to burn her upper arm with a lighter before camp counsellors Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland) and Kurt (Michael Provost) intervene. Ziggy's older sister, Cindy (Emily Rudd), and her boyfriend Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye) are cleaning the dining hall when Nurse Mary Lane (Jordana Spiro), who is the mother of Shadyside killer Ruby Lane, attacks Tommy, saying that he will die that night, before being escorted from the camp by the Police. Later, Cindy and Tommy go to the infirmary to investigate her motive where they interrupt counsellors Alice (Ryan Simpkins), Cindy's former friend, and her boyfriend Arnie (Sam Brooks) going for it. They find Lane's diary which reads that Fier made a deal with the devil by cutting her hand on Satan's stone, so granting eternal life. In the diary too, they find a map which leads them to Fier's house in the woods.

When the group reach the house, they find empty graves dug up in the surrounding area and discover the witch's mark below the house. Alice and Cindy come across a stone wall with carvings of the names of all the Shadyside killers engraved on to it, and Tommy's name included. Tommy, now possessed, kills Arnie with an axe to the face. He chases the girls but they escape through an entrance behind a book case into a cave behind. Tommy reaches the camp and murders several Shadyside campers, including a counsellor. Nick takes several of the campers to the dining hall and instructs Kurt to take the remaining campers to the bus and ring the bell before they leave to alert the others. In the meantime, Cindy and Alice use the witch's mark in the diary as a map of the cave in order to escape. They come across a pulsating mound of beating organs, which, when Alice touches out of curiosity, gives her flashbacks of all the past killers and their hapless victims. Ziggy and counsellor Gary (Drew Scheid) try to rescue Alice and Cindy who have made their way to an opening under the outhouse. Tommy arrives and decapitates Gary with his axe. Ziggy escapes and hides with Nick. The two are later found by Tommy who injures Nick in the leg, but Ziggy escapes to the dining hall. Cindy locates an escape route leading to the dining hall while Alice stays behind having suffered a compound fracture to her ankle in a fall. Meanwhile, Tommy attacks Ziggy, but Cindy intervenes and kills him by stabbing him repeatedly. Alice arrives a short time later saying that she found the witch's hand. Her nose started bleeding and realised that she was sitting near Satan's stone, from where she dug it out.

The three decide to end the curse by reuniting Sarah's hand with her skeletal remains when Ziggy suddenly bleeds from the nose and on to the hand and has a vision of Sarah Fier. This in turn triggers the curse, resurrecting several Shadyside killers, including Tommy who rises and kills Alice, but Cindy slices his head off at the neck him with a spade. Ziggy and Cindy run to the tree where Sarah Fier was hanged in 1666, with the Shadyside killers in pursuit. They dig and find a rock inscribed with 'The witch forever lives', suggesting that this is not actually where Sarah was buried. The killers arrive and Cindy realises they are after Ziggy. She drops the hand and sacrifices herself. Ziggy is killed by multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and Cindy by repeated blows to the chest with an axe. The killers disappear, until Nick finds them and resuscitates Ziggy via CPR. Now back in 1994 again, Deena and Josh realise that C. Berman is in fact Ziggy, whose real name is Christine. They tell her that they found the witch's body and now, with the hand, they can bring the centuries old curse to an end. The camp eventually became Shadyside Mall, where Deena and Josh dig out the hand from under the same tree that remains a centrepiece of the mall. They take it to the place where the body is buried and Deena reunites the body with the hand. Deena's nose bleeds and she sees a vision where she is in 1666 as Sarah Fier.

'FEAR STREET PART THREE : 1666'

Having reunited the hand of Sarah Fier with the rest of her corpse, Deena has a vision showing the events of 1666 from the perspective of Sarah Fier herself. She lives with her father George (Randy Havens) and brother Henry (Benjamin Flores Jnr.) in the community of Union, the original settlement before it was split up into Sunnyvale and Shadyside. One night, while Sarah and her two closest friends Lizzie (Julia Rehwald) and Hannah Miller (Olivia Scott Welch) whom Sarah is secretly in love with, make their way to a party for the young adults, they sneak into the tent of a reclusive widow, where Sarah comes across a book of black magic. After fleeing, Sarah and Hannah run off and get intimate in the forest, but are unknowingly seen by Mad Thomas (McCabe Slye). The next day, Hannah's father Pastor Miller begins to act strange, and the settlement is struck with horrible misfortune as livestock dies and fruit and vegetables turn rotten overnight. Sarah confides in Solomon Goode (Ashley Zukerman) as the only trustworthy person she feels she can turn to and wonders if she is responsible for the community's run of bad luck. Meanwhile Pastor Miller has locked a number of children in the chapel. When the townsfolk gain access inside the chapel, led by Solomon, they see that Pastor Miller has murdered the children, by tearing out their eyes. Sarah finds Henry's lifeless body in the front pew and, while distracted, is set upon and almost killed by Pastor Miller before he himself is killed by Solomon using a pitchfork.

Later that evening, a community meeting is held in the chapel at which the gathered folk decide that witchcraft must be the cause of the grim events they are all suffering and that Sarah and Hannah are the witches responsible because they were seen by Mad Thomas. The two try to escape being hunted down, but Hannah is captured while Sarah flees, and the locals determine that Hannah should be executed by hanging at dawn the next day. She decides to locate the widow's book of black magic and use it to make a deal with the devil in order to save Hannah. However, she finds the book has gone and the widow had been murdered. She flees to Solomon's house for help as her only place of safe refuge, and hides in a back room where she discovers tunnels under the house, revealing some sort of ritual and the widow's book. It turns out that Solomon took the book and offers to share it with her, but Sarah rejects his notion and escapes into the tunnels. He catches up with her and the two fight, with her hand cut off as the pair struggle. She makes her way out of the tunnels, having stabbed Solomon in his side, but is found by the townspeople. At Sarah and Hannah's execution early the next morning, Sarah confesses and convinces the locals to spare Hannah's life, while sacrificing herself. Sarah swears vengeance from the grave saying that she will shadow Solomon for all eternity, she will never let him go and she will follow him forever just before she is executed via hanging. Shortly after, Hannah, and her three closest friends grieve for Sarah and properly bury her (handless) body.

As Deena's vision of the events of 1666 ends, and now back in 1994, she realises that the Goode family is responsible for the Shadyside curse, as the firstborn from each subsequent generation repeat the ritual begun by their ancestor Solomon. Sheriff Nick Goode begins to realise that Deena and Josh are onto him, and he tracks them down in the woods, but they manage to escape in the Sheriff's patrol car. They arrive at Ziggy's house, where she remains watching over a possessed Sam. Ziggy is shocked to learn that Nick and his family are the reason for her sister's death, but understands that they now need to kill Nick in order to bring the Shadyside curse to an end. Josh recruits the help of friend Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson) who works as a janitor at the mall, and the foursome devise a plan to coax Nick to the mall and set traps to have the undead murderers kill him. Lured by the smell of Deena's blood, the group successfully manage to trap the killers behind the reinforced roller shutters of several of the mall's stores. Ziggy coaxes Nick out into the centre of the mall, and pours Deena's blood over him, so leading the undead killers in Nick's direction. However, Nick manages to escape into the centuries old tunnels now running beneath the mall. Deena follows him while the others fight off the undead killers. Nick pins Deena down and nearly kills her, but Deena is able to thrust Nick's hand on to the unholy pulsating mass of beating organs at the centre of the tunnels, which gives him a vision of all his killers' victims down through the ages. With Nick distracted, Deena gains the upper hand and finally kills him with a knife directly in to his eye socket, which makes the undead killers disappear and finally breaks the curse on Shadyside. Deena and Sam emerge through a perfectly maintained house in Sunnyvale. Keep watching for the mid-credits sequence involving the book of black magic. 

The 'Fear Street Trilogy' as a whole is entertaining enough with ample nods to the slasher horror genre that was so prevalent in the '80's and '90's and while it hacks, chops and thrusts it way through largely familiar territory there is still ample fresh perspective to add life to the old tried and tested formula yet. The first instalment is the bloodiest, most brutal of them all with plenty of gruesome murders by our gang of marauding undead serial killers intertwined with teenage angst, supernatural goings-on and surprising plot twists. Part Two is a tad more predictable in its Summer Camp rampage by a lone axe wielding killer but nonetheless ramps up the bodycount, the tension and the excitement that offers up more than a commendable bridge between Parts One and Three, and could almost stand alone on its own right. As for Part Three the segment set in 1666 offers up more explanatory narrative on the origins of the curse and less of the bloodletting, but the finale set back in 1994 cleverly knits the whole storyline together that brings this trilogy to more than a satisfying conclusion that is sure to please lovers of the genre and proves that Leigh Janiak is new force in the horror canon to be contended with. 

The 'Fear Street Trilogy' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd July 2021.

And so for another year the Cannes Film Festival, this year marking its 74th annual edition, drew to a close on Saturday 17th July. At the closing awards ceremony, the Jury President for the feature films in Official Competition, Spike Lee was joined by his other jurors Mati Diop, Mylene Farmer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hausner, Melanie Laurent, Kleber Mendonca Filho, Tahar Rahim and Song Kang-ho for the announcement of this years awards. These are as given below :-

In Competition

* Palme d'Or Award was presented by Spike Lee and Sharon Stone and awarded to 'TITANE' from Belgium and France and Written and Directed by Julia Ducournau. This drama triller stars Vincent Lindon and Agathe Rousselle and following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years. Ducournau became only the second female Director to win the award and the first to win not jointly with another Director (in 1993 Jane Campion had won jointly with Chen Kaige for 'The Piano' and 'Farewell My Concubine' respectively).

* Grand Prix Award was presented by Oliver Stone and jointly awarded to 'A HERO' from Iran and Written and Directed by Asghar Farhadi, about Rahim who is in prison for defaulting on a debt he was unable to repay. During two-days of prison leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum, but things don't go as planned; and 'COMPARTMENT NO. 6' from Germany, Finland, Estonia and Russia and is Co-Written and Directed by Juho Kuosmanen about two strangers sharing a train journey up to the Arctic Circle that will change their perspective on life.

* Best Director Award was presented by Valeria Golino and awarded to Director and Co-Writer Leos Carax for 'ANNETTE' about a provocative stand-up comedian and his wife, a world-famous soprano, with their glamorous life taking an unexpected turn when their daughter Annette is born, a girl with a unique gift.

* Best Screenplay Award was presented by Andrea Arnold and awarded to  Directors and Co-Writers Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe for the Japanese drama film 'DRIVE MY CAR'. Yusuke Kafuku is a stage Actor and Director happily married to his playwright wife. Then one day the wife disappears.

* Best Performance by an Actress Award was presented by Lee Byung-hun and awarded to Renate Reinsve for her performance in the Norwegian film 'THE WORST PERSON INTHE WORLD' Directed and Co-Written by Joachim Trier, and centres around four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.

* Best Performance by an Actor Award was presented by Adele Exarchopoulos and awarded to Caleb Landry Jones for his performance in 'NITRAM' Directed by Justin Kurzel and is based on the Tasmanian Port Arthur massacre in 1996. 

* Jury Prize was presented by Rosamund Pike and jointly awarded to 'AHED'S KNEE' from Israel, France and Germany and Directed and Written by Nadav Lapid about an an Israeli filmmaker who throws himself into two battles doomed to fail, the first against the death of freedom, and the other against the death of a mother. And the internationally co-produced 'MEMORIA' Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul centres around a woman from Scotland, who while traveling in Colombia, begins to hear strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.

Un Certain Regard

* Un Certain Regard Award presented to 'UNCLENCHING THE FISTS' is a Russian drama film Written and Directed by Kira Kovalenko about a young woman living in a former mining town in North Ossetia, who struggles to escape the stifling hold of the family she loves as much as she rejects.

* Un Certain Regard Jury Prize awarded to 'GREAT FREEDOM' is an Austrian drama offering Directed by Sebastian Meise and centres on a man in post-WWII Germany who is imprisoned for being gay, and develops a relationship with his cellmate.

Camera d'Or

* The Camera d'Or Award for best first feature film presented to 'MURINA' a co-production between the US, Brazil, Croatia and Slovenia and is Directed and Co-Written by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic and Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese. This film concerns a teenage girl who takes it upon herself to replace her commanding  father with his wealthy foreign friend during a weekend trip to the Adriatic Sea. 

Trophee Chopard

* The Chopard Trophy Award presented to two young Actors in order to recognise and encourage their careers were presented to Jessie Buckley and Kingsley Ben-Adir by Jessica Chastain.

For the other awards and all the latest news and views, including the the FIPRESCI Prizes, the Ecumenical Prize, the International Critics Week Awards, the Directors Fortnights Awards, the Queer Palm and a bunch of others, you can visit the official website of the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival at : https://www.festival-cannes.com

As I write this Greater Sydney, where I live, remains in COVID lockdown for four weeks now ending (at this stage) on Friday 30th July, which means all of our cinema's are closed until this date, which further means that the release of the movies as given below, slated for release this week, will be delayed somewhat across certain parts of Australia at least. That said, these movies will either have been released or are set for an imminent release somewhere in the world, and as Odeon Online has an international audience, I thought it best to carry on regardless. As such, we launch the week with supernatural thriller about a holidaying family relaxing on an idyllic secluded beach somewhere in the tropics that is causing them to age rapidly. This is followed up by the third instalment in a franchise that takes us back to the origin of the ninja warrior who will become G.I. Joe. Next up is a comedy offering about a college student, who while attending a Jewish funeral service with her parents, runs into her sugar daddy. And we close out the week with a Spanish film about a woman caught up in the drama of her family and work decides to take charge of her life by getting married to herself.

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

'OLD' (Rated M) - is an American supernatural mystery thriller Directed and Written for the screen by M. Night Shyamalan and based on the 2010 graphic novel 'Sandcastle' by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. Shyamalan of course has Directed numerous feature films since his breakout film 'The Sixth Sense' in 1999, followed by his more notable offerings 'Unbreakable' in 2000, 'Signs' in 2002, 'The Village' in 2004, 'The Visit' in 2015, 'Split' in 2016 and 'Glass' in 2019. Principal photography officially began in late September 2020, in the Dominican Republic marking the first time Shyamalan has filmed entirely outside Greater Philadelphia, presumably because the US was in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Dominican Republic was relatively safe. Production wrapped in mid-November. The film is released Stateside this week too. 

And so here, a young family on a tropical holiday discover to their horror that the secluded beach they are relaxing on for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly, reducing their entire lives into a single day. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, and Thomasin McKenzie.

'SNAKE EYES : G.I. JOE ORIGINS' (Rated M) - this American Superhero film is Directed by Robert Schwentke, is based on Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy, comic, and media franchise, and is a reboot, and the third instalment in the 'G.I. Joe' film series following 'G.I. Joe : The Rise of Cobra' in 2009 and 'G.I. Joe : Retaliation' in 2013 with both of those films raking in a combined US$678M worldwide gross off the back of US$305M total production budgets. This third offering in the series serves as an origin story for the title character Snake Eyes. Robert Schwentke is a German film Director and Writer whose previous big screen credits include 'Flightplan' in 2005, 'The Time Travellers Wife' in 2009, 'Red' in 2011, and 'Divergent : Insurgent' in 2015 and 'Divergent : Allegiant' in 2016. A mysterious lone fighter, known only as 'Snake Eyes' (Henry Golding), is welcomed into and trained by a secretive ancient Japanese ninja clan called the Arashikage, but finds his loyalties are tested when secrets from his past are revealed, as he eventually goes on the path to become the famous G.I. Joe hero. Originally slated for release at the end of March 2020, it was pulled from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic after several delays, and rescheduled eventually for the end of October this year before being moved up to this week in the US and Australia. Also starring Samara Weaving, Andrew Koji, Peter Mensah and Iko Uwais. A follow on film is in development apparently.

'SHIVA BABY' (Rated M) - is a US and Canadian Co-Produced comedy film Written and Directed by Emma Seligman in her feature film debut and is adapted from her own 2018 short film of the same name. The film saw its World Premier screening at the South by South West Film Festival in March 2020, went on general release in Canada at the end of March this year and in the US in early April, has so far grossed US$150K off the back of a US$200K production budget, has garnered generally favourable Reviews and has collected five wins and sixteen nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. Here, Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, a directionless young bisexual Jewish woman who attends a shiva with her family. Other attendees include her successful ex-girlfriend Maya (Molly Gordon), and her sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari) with his wife Kim (Dianna Agron) and their screaming baby. It also features Fred Melamed and Polly Draper as Danielle's parents Joel and Debbie, as the events of the film take place almost entirely in real time and at one location as Danielle explores her romantic and career prospects under the intense watch of her family, friends, and judgmental neighbours.

'ROSA'S WEDDING' (Rated M) - here we have a Spanish comedy film Directed and Co-Written by Iciar Bollain who has eighteen Directing credits to her name, thirteen as Writer, three as Producer and thirty-two as an Actress who has also collected fifty-seven wins and another forty-seven nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit over the years. Rosa (Candela Pena), is on the cusp of turning forty-five as she combines her job as a seamstress in the movie business with the pressures of helping her demanding family. She comes to the conclusion that she has always lived her life to serve everyone else. Desperate, and near breaking point she plans to symbolically marry herself, and pursue her dream of starting her own business by leaving everything behind and focusing on herself. However, many obstacles, including her father, siblings and daughter, stand in the way of her joining herself in holy matrimony and beginning to live her life. The film has won eighteen awards and been nominated a further forty-three times. Also starring Sergi Lopez, Nathalie Poza, Ramon Barea and Paula Usero. 

With four 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 coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BELOW ZERO : Wednesday 14th July 2021.

With Greater Sydney in COVID lockdown once again, and as a result all cinema's closed until July 30th at least, once again I'll be reviewing a few of the latest feature films released recently onto Netflix. One such film that I watched from the comfort of my own home this week is the Spanish action thriller 'BELOW ZERO' (or 'BAJOCERO' in its native language) and is Directed and Co-Written by Lluis Quilez in only his second feature film outing following 2014's 'Out of the Dark' with Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman and Stepehn Rea. Quilez has however, received much critical acclaim winning seventeen awards with another six nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit for his short films, mostly for 'Graffiti', 'Avatar' and '72%'. 'Below Zero' was released to Netflix back in late January this year.

And so the film opens up with a hooded man whose identity is hidden from us, pursuing a younger man in the pouring rain in the dead of night. The younger man is trudging through the mud and can barely walk. He slumps down on the bonnet of a parked car only to be beaten heavily to the face and head by his assailant, who then points a gun at his head and demands to know the location of a missing body. He is then chained up and dragged backwards through the rain and mud, knocked semi-conscious and thrown into a shallow grave where the hooded figure promptly buries him alive. 

We then cut to a busy street where also in the pouring rain in a vehicle sits a man, his wife and his young daughter while they wait for roadside assistance to come and repair the blown tyre of their car. Being impatient the man gets out of the car and replaces the wheel himself, while his daughter looks on and his wife has gone on to work. Later that day, that same man, Martin (Javier Gutierrez) arrives at the Police precinct where he works and he is detailed to transfer six criminals from one prison to another later that night by driving a prisoner transport truck with his assigned partner for the journey, Montesinos (Isak Ferriz) together with a pilot vehicle containing two other Police Officers. 

Following a lengthy strip search of the six prisoners to check for any concealed weapons, lock picks, or other personal items that aren't permitted, they are all handcuffed and escorted to the truck, where they enter one by one and are each individually locked up for the duration of the journey in their own cell. Initially the journey starts out well enough with the two vehicles taking the back roads so save on travel time, that takes them along a winding woodland route. Gradually the temperature drops and the fog closes in making visibility treacherous, and Martin looses sight of the pilot vehicle in front. Over the radio he repeatedly asks the Police Officers to respond but their radio is silent. Shortly afterwards the transport truck is brought to an abrupt halt by a spike strip laid across the road to deliberately disable the vehicle. 

Montesinos exits the armoured truck leaving Martin inside the cab, to check out the unfolding situation. Further down the road he notices the Police car on its side, but before he is able to get to it he is gunned down by a sniper hiding in the woods. When Montesinos doesn't respond to Martin's radio call, Martin ventures outside. He first comes across Montesinos lifeless body laying in the road and then sees the lights of the Police car and goes to investigate but not before being shot at by the same sniper. Making it to the Police car and using it for cover, he notices the two Officers inside both dead. The sniper continues to take pot shots at Martin with a bullet narrowly missing him but grazing his ear. He is then shot in the leg but makes it back to the truck and enters the prisoners compartment. 

In the meantime, one prisoner, Ramis (Luis Callejo) has been able to free himself from his handcuffs using a make shift lock pick he had concealed inside himself and in so doing releases the other prisoners, who all ultimately overpower Martin despite his best efforts to quell their uprising by pointing his gun at them, whose magazine was empty having fired off all the rounds at the mystery sniper in the woods earlier. The assailant climbs into the cab and speaks to those prisoners and Martin over the loudspeaker, saying that he is only interested in one prisoner and if the others can get out of the truck then they are free to do so, but he has no way of getting in. The prisoner that the assailant is interested in is a young man named Nano (Patrick Criado), who instantly recognises the assailants voice as Miguel (Karra Elejalde) a former Police Officer who is crazy and he has no idea what he wants with him. Nano, in an attempt to preserve his life, swallows the only key that would have allowed all the prisoners to exit the truck through a hatch at the rear of the transport vehicle. The other prisoners offer to slice open Nano to retrieve the key, but Miguel says that he wants him alive. 

With no alternative, Miguel changes the punctured wheel of the truck, and drives off with the prisoners and Martin still locked inside the compartment at the rear, with Martin handcuffed to a security door keeping Nano company separate from the remaining prisoners. Ramis tries to reason with Miguel over the radio, but to no avail, so Martin attempts to communicate. Miguel still remains adamant that his interest only rests with Nano, and the others still have time to find a away to escape, but time is running out. Meanwhile, prisoner Pardo (Miquel Gelabert) is dead having being burned to death when Miguel poured petrol into his cell through a grate to allow for air flow, and set it alight, and Mihai (Florin Opritescu) was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher by Nano while trying to escape, leaving four prisoners now. And the there were three as Rei (Edgar Vittorino) succumbed by being impaled head first onto a bolt he was attempting to undo in the luggage compartment under the floor of the truck in a bid to find an escape route, when Miguel forces Montesinos (who had come round but is badly injured) off the road in his car and abruptly comes to a grinding halt. Miguel goes to investigate and finds Montesino bleeding out behind the wheel of his car having crashed headlong into some boulders by the roadside. He dies from his wounds while Miguel looks on. 

Miguel then drives the truck as day breaks onto a frozen lake. He gets out and with his shotgun blasts holes through the ice close to three of the wheels, knowing that in a matter of minutes the ice will crack and the truck will sink to the icy depths below. Miguel gets out and walks to the shoreline. As the truck gradually begins sinking the four remaining occupants begin panicking as water starts rushing in. Martin pleads with Ramis to release him from his handcuffs using his makeshift lock pick. As the water levels rise Ramis drops the lock pick and Golum (Andres Gertrudix) swims down to retrieve it. When he resurfaces Ramis successfully frees Martin from his cuffs, but in the meantime Golum dies from the intense cold as his body shuts down. Martin says he knows a way out through an escape hatch in the roof, as the truck sinks to the bottom of the lake. He, Ramis and Nano make it out of the truck and swim to the surface in the bitter cold early morning air. 

By the lakeside Nano heads off in the opposite direction to Martin and Ramis, with Miguel looking on from a distance. Ramis and Martin bid their farewells to each other as the former walks away a free man with designs of opening a beachside bar on a tropical island somewhere. Nano heads off in the direction of an abandoned lakeside village as Miguel follows. Martin gets his bearings and heads there too. Miguel is positioned in a deserted barn taking shots at Nano who is cowering behind a wall. 

Martin stealthily makes his way up to the barn and confronts Miguel who reveals that he lost his daughter to a vicious rape/torture/murder, that her body had never been found, and that Nano was responsible. A fact that he learned from killing his best friend Chino (Alex Monner) in the opening scene of the film. Martin tries to tell him that it's not the way the law works, but Miguel states that the law failed him and he knows how the law works having been a Police Officer himself. The pair fight, and Miguel gets away eventually pinning down Nano and demanding the whereabouts of his daughter. Martin arrives and separates the pair. Nano rises to his feet and says he will never tell where the girls body is, effectively admitting to the crime. 

At that and with a Police helicopter approaching, Martin at the last minute decides to depart from his law-abiding beliefs and tortures Nano by shooting his hand clean off with Miguel's shotgun to extract the location of the disposed body of Miguel's daughter. As the Police arrive en masse by car and helicopter, Martin stands to his feet and raises his arms while Miguel still on the ground, smiles secure in the knowledge that he can locate his daughter and give her the funeral she deserves, while Nano spends his life behind bars. 

I have to say that I enjoyed 'Below Zero' more than I had anticipated. Sure, its never going to set the world alight but as far as engaging story lines go, solid performances, and enough blood and gore to keep fans of such genre films entertained, there is much to like here. The film could be described as a mix of 'Con Air' staged on the ground, the hugely successful Spanish series (also on Netflix) 'Money Heist' and almost anything that Liam Neeson has starred in recently, especially 'The Grey', 'Cold Pursuit' and the upcoming 'Ice Road' - you throw all of those into a blender and out pops 'Below Zero'. There are some questionable moments in the film that are used to propel the story along and for these it's best to let them slide without getting too bogged down in the story to interrupt what is essentially a taught, suspenseful, bloody and violent action thriller that is well worth searching out. The film is overdubbed into English. 

'Below Zero' warrants 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 15th July 2021.

The 74th annual 'Cannes Film Festival' is currently in full swing from 6th to 17th July after having been originally scheduled from 11th to 22nd May. American Director, and Screenwriter Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after the COVID-19 pandemic in France shelved plans to have him lead the jury for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. That jury also features other big screen notaries including Mati Diop, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Kleber Mendonca Filho, Tahar Rahim and Song Kang-ho. French Director Leos Carax's long-awaited musical film 'Annette' was the opening film of the festival, with the closing night's feature, in the out of competition category, being French Director Nicolas Bedos' spy comedy offering 'OSS 117 : From Africa with Love'. 

This year there are twenty-four feature films in Official Competition at Cannes for the prestigious Palme d'Or award. Included in this line up are :-

* 'Annette' is the opening film of the festival and is from France, Germany and Belgium and is Directed and Co-Written by Leos Carax in his feature filmmaking debut and is based on a story by Ron and Russell Mael (of famed rock and pop music band 'Sparks'). The film stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. 

* 'Benedetta' - a 17th century biographical drama film Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Paul Verhoeven and is from the Netherlands and France and is based on the 1986 non-fiction book 'Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy' by Judith C. Brown. Starring Virginie Efira, Lambert Wilson and Charlotte Rampling.

* 'Bergman Island'- Directed and Written by Mia Hansen-Love this French, Mexican, Brazilian and German co-produced drama film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps.

* 'Drive My Car' - from Japan and Co-Written and Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami from his 2014 short story collection 'Men Without Women'. Starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masaka Okada and Reika Kirishima. 

* 'Everything Went Fine' - from France and Written for the screen and Directed by Francois Ozon based on the novel 'Everything Went Well' by Emmanuele Bernheim, and starring Sophie Marceau, Andre Dussollier and Charlotte Rampling. 

* 'Flag Day' - having received a four minute standing ovation at its World Premier screening at Cannes this year, this American drama film is Directed and stars Sean Penn and is based on the book 'Flim-Flam Man: The True Story Of My Father’s Counterfeit Life' by Jennifer Vogel. Aside from Sean Penn, this film also stars his real life daughter Dylan Penn, his real life son Hopper Penn and Josh Brolin, Katheryn Winnick, Eddie Marsan and James Russo. 

* 'France' - from France, Italy, Germany and Belgium this drama film is Written and Directed by Bruno Dumont and stars Lea Seydoux.

* 'The French Dispatch' - from the US and Directed, Written for the screen based on a story he Co-Wrote and Co-Produced by Wes Anderson, this comedy drama offering features an ensemble cast consisting of Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Lea Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson with support from the likes of Anderson's recurring collaborators, including Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. The film saw its World Premier showcasing earlier this week and is set for an international release in late October this year following sixteen months of delays due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

* 'Memoria' - is an international drama Co-Production Written and Directed by the Thai independent film maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and stars Tilda Swinton, Jeanne Balibar, Daniel Gimenez Cacho and Juan Pablo Urrego.

* 'Nitram' - this Australian drama thriller film is Directed and Written by Justin Kurzel and focuses on the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, Australia and stars Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis and Anthony LaPaglia.

* 'Red Rocket' - from the United States and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Sean Baker, this comedy drama offering stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod and Suzanna Son. 

* 'The Story of My Wife' - from Hungary, Germany, France and Italy and Directed and Written by Ildiko Enyedi, based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Milan Fust. Starring Lea Seydoux.

* 'Three Floors' - from Italy and France and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Nanni Moretti, this drama film is based on the 2017 novel 'Shalosh Qomot' by Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo, and stars Margherita Buy, Riccardo Scamarcio, Alba Rohrwacher, Adriano Giannini, Elena Lietti, Alessandro Sperduti, Denise Tantucci and Nanni Moretti.

* 'The Worst Person in the World' - this Norwegian, Swedish and French Co-Produced drama film is Directed and Co-Written by Joachim Trier and stars Anders Danielsen Lie. 

The awards ceremony for the Palme d'Or will take place on Saturday 17th July, and the winners and grinners will be recorded here, at Odeon Online, together with those in the Un Certain Regard (for those films in Official Selection) and Camera d'Or (for first time debut film Directors) categories. The Honorary Palme d'Or will be awarded to American Actress and Director Jodie Foster, and Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio. 

For more on the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, you can visit the official website at : https://www.festival-cannes.com

As I write this Greater Sydney, where I live, remains in COVID lockdown for three weeks now ending (at this stage) on Friday 16th July, which means all of our cinema's are closed until this date, which further means that the release of the movies as given below, slated for release this week, will be delayed somewhat across certain parts of Australia at least. That said, these movies will either have been released or are set for an imminent release somewhere in the world, and as Odeon Online has an international audience, I thought it best to carry on regardless. And so this weeks three new release films kick off with a dangerous assassin who reunites with her estranged mother and her lethal associates to protect an eight year old girl, and take down a ruthless crime syndicate and its army of henchmen. Next up we have a supernatural drama of a man who interviews five unborn souls to determine which one can be given life on Earth. And we close out with the week with a documentary film exploring the life and legend of the Manchester United Football Club manager Alex Ferguson.

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 week ahead.

'GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE' (Rated MA15+) - this action thriller offering is Directed and Co-Written by the Israeli film maker and screenwriter Navot Papushado in only his third full length feature film outing following 2010's 'Rabies', 2013's 'Big Bad Wolves' and his segment 'F is for Falling' in the anthology horror comedy film 'ABCs of Death 2'. The film will be released in the US, Canada and the Nordic nations on Netflix on 14th July, with a cinema release elsewhere kicking off with Australia from this week. 

During her turbulent life as a professional assassin, Scarlet (Lena Headey) was cruelly forced to abandon her daughter Sam and go on the run. Years later, despite the estrangement, Sam (Karen Gillan) has also grown up into a cold-blooded hitwoman. After a high-stakes mission spins out of control, putting an innocent eight-year-old girl, Emily (Chloe Coleman) in the middle of a gang war she has unleashed, Sam has no choice but to go rogue. This ultimately leads her back to her mother and her former hitwomen sidekicks known as the Sisterhood. Ultimately, that merry band of ass-kicking, gun-totting, knife wielding assassins, comprising Scarlet, Anna May (Angela Bassett), Florence (Michelle Yeoh), and Mathilde (Carla Gugino) all join forces with Sam in an avenging war against those who took everything from them. Also starring Paul Giamatti and Ralph Ineson. 

'NINE DAYS' (Rated M) - is a supernatural drama film Directed and Written by Edson Oda in his feature film making debut after a string of short films which kicked off his career in 2009. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020, is released here in Australia from this week and goes on a wider release from the end of this month, having garnered generally favourable critical acclaim along the way, as well as three award wins and another ten nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. And so here, a reclusive man, Will (Winston Duke) lives in an isolated house in the middle of a dessert. His purpose is to conduct a series of interviews, lasting up to nine days, with human souls for a chance to be born. If they are not selected, Will gives them a parting memory before their existence is erased. His only company is Kyo (Benedict Wong), a soul who did not disappear, and has since assisted in Will's interviews. Over the course of the nine days the majority of candidates are dismissed for a variety of reasons, ultimately disappearing forever, however, in the end it all boils down to two, and only one will be chosen to be born. Also starring Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgard and Tony Hale. 

'SIR ALEX FERGUSON : NEVER GIVE IN' (Rated M) - this documentary film about the former Scotland, Aberdeen and Manchester United football manager Sir Alex Ferguson is Directed by Sir Alex's own son Jason Ferguson, and recounts Ferguson's life from his early experiences in Govan (now part of Glasgow), through his playing career as a striker at the Glasgow Rangers Football Club amongst others, to his long and successful managerial career, using archive footage and interviews with Ferguson that began in 2016, and includes Ferguson's recovery from his 2018 brain haemorrhage. Gordon Strachan appears as a talking head, along with eleven other interviewees in total - Sir Alex, five family members (his wife Cathy Ferguson and their sons, Jason, Mark and Darren along with his brother, Martin Ferguson), two doctors, and Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Archie Knox. The film saw its Premier screening at this years Glasgow Film Festival, went on release in the UK and Ireland at the end of May, and now gets a limited showing in Australia. 

With just 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 coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-