What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 17th April 2014.

The Easter break is upon us - a long weekend looms, school holidays in full flow, and a slew of movies  big and small to tempt your movie going tastebuds in the week ahead. Whatever your taste in movies you can dine out on a feast consisting a big budget comic book adaptation from our friends at Marvel; a period piece charting the secret and covert dalliances of one of England's greatest writers; and a female revenge flick charting the dalliances of a a guy up against his wife, his lover, the girlfriend and the mistress . . . could get messy!

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN - 2, RISE OF ELECTRO - I only recently saw the first in this rebooted franchise as Directed by one Marc Webb, and have to say that I was a little underwhelmed by it. After Sam Raimi did a reasonable job at bringing Tobi McGuire to the big screen as 'Spidey' in three successful Spiderman films at the turn of this century, many were left wondering, why reboot and why so soon? Clearly 'The Amazing Spiderman' did an OK job at the box office to warrant this second outing, and again with Marvel doing no wrong these days they are in prime position to dictate where they will spend their cash and on what. And so it is - we have Andrew Garfield back as our web slinging hero; Emma Stone as love interest Gwen and Jamie Foxx as arch villain himself Electro. With Peter Parker now coming to terms with who and what he is, the power he can command and the responsibilities he has he also comes to realise that the root of all evil seems to lie within the four walls of 'OzCorp'. His father worked there, his best friends father built it and ran it and all sorts of scientific stuff is going on there that means trouble for New York City and all those that live there. What will ensue will be loud, proud, beat 'em up, smash it down action aplenty with a heavy dose of CGI sprinkled with a little emotion, romance, betrayal and redemption! It's sure to do well!

THE OTHER WOMAN - three women who have all been cheated upon by the one man in their lives they all share, but unknowingly so is the premise for this female revenge comedic offering! There is the wife, lover, mistress, girlfriend whatever - all hell bent on getting their sweet revenge on the poor hapless chap who has put it about it at their individual and collective expense. Teaming up we have Cameron Diaz (the girlfriend), Leslie Mann (the wife) and Kate Upton (mistress, lover, whatever) doing what it takes to eek out their justice on their seemingly perfect man. No doubt there will be pain, anguish, regret, and laughs aplenty as justice is duly served and the fella gets his comeuppance! Sounds yawntastic - unless you like this sort of thing!

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN - no, this is not the love interest for 'The Amazing Spiderman' before you ask, but instead a period piece set in the mid-19th century at the time of one Mr. Charles Dickens - he of some notable writing fame responsible for a few classics just quietly! Ralph Fiennes has been busy of late making 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (previewed and reviewed last week), as well as Directing and starring in this little film supposedly based on fact. Ralph Fiennes stars as Charles Dickens in his mid-40's who falls for an 18 year old actress Nelly Ternan (played by Felicity Jones) who then spends the rest of his life as the secret muse/lover/mistress, and this remains a secret even after Dickens has moved on to the great library in the sky. The story charts their relationship and the new life that Nelly has to make after his passing and the guilt of that relationship she must endure, as well as the public, and to a lesser extent, the private persona of this great scribe. This is Fiennes second Directorial outing after 'Coriolanus' which was much lauded upon release - it remains to be seen if this one garners as much praise.

Three offerings then to catch in the next week, and once again three very different movies to choose from. There's also a bunch of other movies previewed in weeks past that are still doing the rounds at your local multiplex. So get out there and buy a ticket, get your popcorn, choctop or bucket of brown fizzy stuff, sit back and enjoy a film . . . and then, let me know what you think!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-