What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th October 2017.

With the release of 'Thor : Ragnarok' this week, and as Previewed below, this brings to a close the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie releases for 2017 following on from 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2' and 'Spider-Man : Homecoming' seen earlier this year. So what Superhero offerings do we have to look forward to in the coming years from the MCU? Shown below, is what we know so far on the cards for release over the next few years or in development either from the direct MCU or the periphery.
* 'Black Panther' - due in February 2018, Directed by Ryan Coogler and staring Patrick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther with Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis.
* 'The New Mutants' - due in April 2018, Directed by Josh Boone and starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/Majik, Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbaine, Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/Canonball, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot and Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage.


* 'Avengers : Infinity War, Part 1' - due in May 2018, Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and starring all the usual Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy suspects and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
* 'Deadpool 2' - due in June 2018, Directed by David Leitch and starring Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool.

* 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' - due in July 2018, Directed by Peyton Reed, and staring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp with Bobby Cannavale, Michale Pena, Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburn, Walton Goggins and Michelle Pfeiffer.
* 'X-Men : Dark Phoenix' - due in November 2018, Directed by Simon Kinberg and starring Sophie Turner as Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix, with all the usual X-Men suspects returning from the more recent films.
* 'Gambit' - due in February 2019, Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau/Gambit.
* 'Captain Marvel' - due in March 2019, Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel.
* 'Avengers : Infinity War, Part 2' - due in May 2019, Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and starring all the usual Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy suspects and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
* 'Spider-Man : Homecoming 2' - due in July 2019, Directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
* 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3' - due in 2020, Directed by James Gunn, and starring all the usual Guardians suspects.
* Also reportedly in the works are 'Inhumans' that has been on again off again and 'Venom' supposedly Directed by Ruben Fleisher and starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom.

This week, with five new release movies to choose from, we kick start with a MCU Superhero offering that sees this particular hero down on his luck and fighting for his survival and that of his lands and his people; then an outwardly quite peaceful community is turned upside down when an inwardly corrupt underbelly of violence and corruption manifests itself; followed up by a WWII drama of the lengths ordinary people will go to to protect the life of an innocent; then a black dramedy about the power of social media and the impact upon two very different lives when they come together; and closing out with a French film of two women who share a connection with the same man and come to rely on each other for different reasons.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are here cordially invited 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 meanwhile, enjoy your big screen Odeon experience during the coming week.

'THOR : RAGNAROK' (Rated M) - this is the third film in the 'Thor' franchise and the seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and has been much hyped, keenly awaited and highly anticipated since the first trailers were released and New Zealander Taika Waititi was announced for Directing duties. With a production budget of US$180M and filmed largely at Australia's Gold Coast film studios, the film has already received largely positive press, hailing it the best of the three so far, ahead of its US release in early November, and its Australian release this week. The first two films in the series, 2011's 'Thor' and 2013's 'Thor : The Dark World' were made for a combined US$303M and grossed between them close to US$1.1B, so expectations are running high for this instalment. By way of a lesson into Norse mythology, Ragnarok is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Odin, Thor and Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Following such a cataclysmic event, the world will resurface afresh, renewed and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.

This film then, is set four years after the events of 'Thor: The Dark World', and two years following on from 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. Here we find Thor (Chris Hemsworth), held captive on the planet Sakaar without his hammer Mjolnir. He is forced into a gladiatorial duel, which he must win, against an old friend, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in order to return to his home realm of Asgard in time to stop the villainous Hela, Thor's sister and Goddess of Death, who has been inadvertently released from prison where she has been locked away for the past few millennia (Cate Blanchett) and the impending Ragnarok, the end of all Asgardian civilisation. Also reprising their roles from previous films are Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange with Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster (one of the Elders of the Universe), Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Karl Urban as Skurge, Director Taika Waititi plays a MoCap stone creature Korg, and of course Stan Lee has his trademark cameo appearance. Sounds like a whole lotta fun, with Taika Waititi adding his own unique flavour to this film, which has already won over the Critics.

'SUBURBICON' (Rated MA15+) - here we have a crime comedy caper Directed by George Clooney and Co-Produced and Co-Written by him too with his other frequent scribing collaborators Joel and Ethan Coen, and Grant Heslov. The film had its World Premier screening at the Venice Film Festival in early September where it was in main competition, and then it screened too at the more recent Toronto International Film Festival, and is due for release in the US this week too, as it is here in Australia. The film has been in gestation for many years, having been written initially by the Coen brothers with Joel Silver way back in 1986 shortly after the release of their first film 'Blood Simple'. In 2005 it was reported that Clooney would Direct and star in the film, and twelve years later that goal is finally realised. Set in the peaceful, harmonious, sharing, caring community of Suburbicon with its picket fences, affordable housing, lush manicured lawns and clean leafy streets, it is the summer of 1959. The Lodge family - Gardner, and his wife Margaret (Matt Damon and Julianne Moore respectively) and their young family are living the idyllic life until a home invasion on the Lodge household sends the prefect nuclear family into a tailspin, leaving Gardner to navigate the town's dark and hidden core of deceit, violence and betrayal. Also starring Oscar Isaac, the film has so far received lacklustre Reviews.

'ANOTHER MOTHER'S SON' (Rated PG) - this British WWII drama film is based on a true story from the German occupied Channel Islands, and is Directed by Christopher Menaul. The film Premiered in London back in March this year and now gets a limited release in Australia. Telling the story set on the island of Jersey, Louisa Gould (Jenny Seagrove) hides an escaped young Russian PoW, Feodor 'Bill' Burriy (Julian Kostov) by secreting him away from the German forces for the duration of the war. As the war effort increases and it becomes evident that Churchill will not risk an assault on the Channel Islands to recapture the British soil, the island dwellers spirit starts to subside under the pressure of hunger, occupation and oppression. Against these very trying circumstances, Louisa battles to safeguard her family's sense of humanity, and to protect the Russian boy as if he was one of her own children. Also starring John Hannah, Ronan Keating and Susan Hampshire.

'INGRID GOES WEST' (Rated MA15+) - Directed and Co-Written by Matt Spicer this black comedy drama film Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, had its Australian Premier at this years Sydney Film Festival, was released Stateside back in August and now arrives at selected Australian cinemas having so far grossed US$3M and received generally positive Reviews. The story here centres around young Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza), who after the death of her mother and a series of self-imposed personal setbacks in her life, decides to cut lose of her dead end no hope existence by moving out West to get to know her social media obsession, a Los Angeles social mover and shaker named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olson). After a quick bond is forged between these unlikely new friends, the facade slowly begins to crack in both their lives with comically malicious results. Also starring O'Shea Jackson, Wyatt Russell and Billy Magnussen.

'THE MIDWIFE' (Rated PG) - here we have a French foreign language offering that Premiered out of competition at this years Berlin Film Festival back in February, was released in France at the end of March and has so far recovered just under US$6M from its US$8M budget outlay. Directed and written for the screen by Martin Provost, this film tells the story of Claire Breton (Catherine Frot) a stressed and up tight midwife who has dramas on going in both her work and her personal lives, who forms an unlikely friendship with Beatrice Sobo dite Sobolevski (Catherine Deneuve), the free-spirited, sensual mistress of her late father. Though complete opposite personalities, the two women come to count on each other after Beatrice reveals that she has brain cancer, and has no one else to turn to. What is Claire to do when confronted with such a predicament and when faced either with rejection or her sense of duty? Starring also Olivier Gourmet and Quentin Dolmaire as Simon, Claire's student aged son.

With five new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, taking in the third instalment in this popular MCU Superhero franchise, a comedy crime offering, a WWII drama, a commentary on the influence of social media and a foreign language film of a midwife and a mistress.  Remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephiles afterwards here at Odeon Online, and in the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-