Yes, this week will revolve around Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, and all of us here at ScreenAnarchy are eager to lay our eyes on it.
It is not the only genre film this week that deserves attention, however. We note below that a Canadian filmmaker explores "racism, slavery, coming-of-age, sexual desire, love, and brutality in a film that mostly succeeds in combining these elements in its contemporary take on the fairy tale."
This week will also see a Korean coming-of-age film return to theaters in a 4K restoration to celebrate its 25th anniversary, a woman who meets a young runaway in a film that also features Chris Pine talking Italian, and a documentary about a pirate radio station in Los Angeles in the 1990s.
It's a very meaty schedule of films that are opening in movie theaters this week. Check them all out below, and make your plans accordingly.
The Odyssey
The film opens Friday, July 17, only in movie theaters, via Universal Pictures. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Christopher Nolan's new film. Look for our review later this week.
Official synopsis: "Christopher Nolan's next film, The Odyssey, is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer's foundational saga to IMAX® film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.
"The Odyssey stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong'o, with Zendaya and Charlize Theron."
Steal Away
The film opens Friday, July 17, only in movie theaters, via Elevation Pictures.
Our own Shelagh Rowan-Legg saw and reviewed the film last year out of the Toronto International Film Festival:
"Canadian filmmaker Clement Virgo, even in his more 'realistic' work such as Brother and The Book of Negroes, has always tinged his work with something that hints at the dark fantastic of the world, so it's not surprising that he would want to dive further into this rich pool.
"Steal Away, co-written by Virgo and Tamara Faith Berger, explores racism, slavery, coming-of-age, sexual desire, love, and brutality in a film that mostly succeeds in combining these elements in its contemporary take on the fairy tale."
Take Care of My Cat
The film opens Friday, July 17, only in movie theaters, via Kani Releasing. Visit their official site for locations and ticket information.
The Korean coming-of-age film receives a re-release with a 4K restoration for its 25th anniversary. I have distinct memories of hearing very good things about this film, though I never actually had the opportunity to see it around its original release; its availability in the U.S. was quite limited, as I recall. We hope to have a fresh review later this week.
Official synopsis: "A sleeper hit at the time of its release, Jeong Jae-eun's perceptive debut Take Care of My Cat chronicles the lives of five graduating friends whose bonds begin to fracture as they contend with their share of squashed dreams and unequal opportunities.
"Director Jeong sets the lives of her protagonists (among them Bae Doona and Lee Yo-won in breakout roles) against the industrial backdrop of Incheon, a port city adjacent to Seoul and bearing the brunt of South Korea's ruthless globalization efforts. In the doing, her film expands to accommodate notions of class, solidarity and privilege - in what is now a timeless snapshot of a rapidly evolving society.
"Alternately bleak and sunny, realistic and effortlessly cool, suffused with the joys of girlhood yet clear-eyed about the uneasy transition into adulthood, Take Care of My Cat offers a tender and a multi-faceted portrait of young women at the turn of the new millennium."
The Kidnapping of Arabella
The film opens Friday, July 17, only in movie theaters, via Oscilloscope. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Sometimes trailers just sneak up on you, and that's the case here. Benedetta Porcaroli, Lucrezia Guglielmino, and Chris Pine (speaking Italian) star in director Carolina Cavalli's lovely-looking film. Look for our review later this week.
Official synopsis: "Holly, 28, has always felt like the wrong version of herself, as if her life had gone off track. When she meets a young girl named Arabella, she becomes convinced she's found her younger self. Eager to run away from home, Arabella hides her true identity and goes along with Holly's wish: to go back in time and become someone special."
40 Watts From Nowhere
The film opens Friday, July 17, only in movie theaters, via Factory 25. Visit their official site for locations and ticket information.
Pirate radio? In Los Angeles? Really? As a native Angeleno, I'm fascinated by the idea that someone ran a pirate radio station "out of her apartment in Los Angeles"! Look for our review later this week.
Official synopsis: "Frustrated by what she was hearing on commercial radio, Sue Carpenter built a 40-watt FM station in 1995 and ran it out of her apartment in Los Angeles, exploiting a legal case that allowed hundreds of low-power illegal radio operators to proliferate throughout the country and gave birth to the legal LPFM movement. Carpenter was 28 years old, a secretary and an aspiring journalist when she first set up KBLT and invited strangers into her house to spin whatever the hell they wanted. It soon took on a life of its own, drawing Mazzy Star to headline a benefit concert and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play live in her living room."
Opening This Week celebrates the cinematic experience, in movie theaters and at home.