What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 22nd May 2014.

Following last weeks mega haul of new releases, we have a more subtle offering this week to tempt you out and in front of the big screen for a very diverse offering of celluloid delight. Once again, those lads at Marvel have gone large with this next offering in the X-Men franchise and this time it's bigger, bolder, badder and budget busting in every way, and you've got to give it to Marvel - they know how to deliver Superheroes to our senses in spades! Next up, we have a small Australian made psychological horror film that shows lots of promise in its menacing premise and execution. Then there is the religious offering - a retelling of a story you know well re-presented for an audience who may have lost touch . . . ! And finally, what week would be complete without a foreign language offering set in the 60's and treading the line between the calling of the church and the nazi legacies of WWII.

As is usually the case, something for (almost) everyone, so on a cool winter's evening somewhere in Australia, get your self out from in front of the small screen and perch in front of the big screen for a few hours of drama, escapism, emotion, excitement and sheer entertainment. Then - let me know what you thought!

X-MEN : DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (Rated M) - Bryan Singer is back in the Director's chair of this franchise that he kick started well & truly in 2000 with 'X-Men' and in 2003 with 'X2'. This is the seventh outing of these titular mutant heroes, and 'Days of Future Past' marks the most ambitious yet. With a budget of a staggering US$230M and a cast that boasts the likes of Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry and various others this story is set needless to say in the future . . . and the past! Ten years from now and mutants have been hunted down and are on the verge of extinction largely at the hands of huge robotic hunting killing machines called 'Sentinels'. In 2023 Magneto (McKellen) and Professor X (Stewart) hatch a plan to send Wolverine (Jackman, unless you've been asleep these past 14 years!) back to 1973 to hook up with the younger Magneto (Fassbender) and Professor X (McAvoy) to thwart the plans of the Sentinel inventor Trask (Dinklage) from destroying mutant life as we know it in the future! Along the way all manner of mutant men & women appear to support the cause and defend themselves from annihilation ultimately. This is effects laden, mega-budget story telling on a grand scale thats should be sure to please the fans of the genre and the series. With such a huge production cost you had better go see it to support 'X-Men : Apocalypse' slated for a May 2016 release.

THE BABADOOK (Rated M) - First time Director, Jennifer Kent has also penned the screenplay of this Australian psychological horror thriller. The story surrounds the struggling relationship between mother Amelia (Essie Davis) and her six year old son (about to turn seven) Samuel (Noah Wiseman). Samuel's seventh birthday happens to coincide exactly with the date that husband to Amelia and father to Samuel was killed horrifically in a car accident six years earlier, and so Samuel doesn't celebrate his birthday on his birth date for this reason. Samuel is having dreams (more like nightmares) in which he sees a monster who is coming to kill both he and his Mum, but the stories he retells to his Mum of these dreams are just the ramblings of an out-of-control kid . . . she thinks. Then one day a book is uncovered at the house called 'The Babadook' and in it we see the story of the monster that Samuel believes is coming to kill them both. When Samuel begins to visualise 'The Babadook' in the house and outside taunting him, stalking him and threatening all manner of harm it is only a question of time before Amelia herself begins to catch glimpses of this malign force present in their home and then the real psychological horror begins to unfold. Strong reviews received so far, and it's about time we had a nail biting, seat gripping, tension grabbing horror offering that is well conceived, delivered and believable.

SON OF GOD (Rated M) - Directed by Christopher Spencer with a cast that you will largely not recognise this is a large scale effects heavy epic retelling of the life of one Mr. J. Christ. Tracing the story from his birth in a humble stable through his earlier life as a carpenter, onto his teachings in the way of God, healing, forgiveness and sanctity, and culminating in his crucifixion and ultimate resurrection some thirty years later, there will be no surprises here! You know the story of course, and it has been told a gazillion times on the small and big screen alike with equal biblical proportions. What makes this any different - I dunno! You'll have to check it out and decide for yourself . . . and then let me know!

IDA (Rated M) - set in a 1962 Poland a beautiful 18 year old novice nun (Anna) is living in a convent where she has resided since becoming orphaned as a young child. Before taking her vows she is told she must first find her mothers sister (Wanda) whom she has not met before, let alone knew existed. Upon doing so, the pair embark upon a journey of discovery that reveals that Wanda was in fact a hardline judge and prosecutor for the Stalin regime who would sentence priests and other miscreants to death in her former life . . . and she is also Jewish. As such it transpires that so too is Anna, and in fact her real name is Ida Lebenstein, and her parents were killed during the war. What follows is Ida's search for her true identity, her parents resting place, answers to her past, and the questions that will shape her future.

Four films then to tease, tempt and tantalise your tastebuds and ensure you are once again spoilt for choice. Every good reason to get out to your nearby multiplex this coming week, or support your local independent theatre with your movie going dollar. Enjoy the experience and then tell us at Odeon Online all about it.

Movies . . . see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-