What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th April 2018.

In the week ahead we have the 19th film in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, with the arrival of the first instalment in a two parter, that concludes in May 2019. The first eighteen films in this Superhero shared universe launched ten years ago in 2008, when Robert Downey Jnr. burst onto our screens as Tony Stark, aka 'Iron Man'. Currently there are a further fourteen films all at various stages of development going through to the mid-2020's, and this is hardly surprising given that the first eighteen films have raked in a grand total Box Office haul of US$14.83B off combined Budgets of US$3.3B. The headliners contributing to this world beating film franchise are 'The Avengers' (2012) grossing US$1.52B and ranking #5 of all time highest ranking films; 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' (2015) brought home US$1.40B standing at #7; released earlier this year, 'Black Panther' (2018) currently stands at US$1.31B and occupies the #10 spot; and 'Captain America : Civil War' (2016) took US$1.15B and stands at #16. In the meantime, there have been three standalone 'Iron Man' features, three of 'Thor', three of 'Captain America', three for 'The Avengers' including that which is released this week; two for 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and one so far for each of 'The Incredible Hulk', 'Doctor Strange', 'Ant-Man', 'Spider-Man' and 'Black Panther'.

And what does the future hold for the MCU and its ardent followers the world over? Hot on the heels of this years recently released 'Black Panther' and the upcoming 'Avengers : Infinity War', in 2018 we still have yet to come 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' due for release in July as Directed by Peyton Reed; in March 2019 there is 'Captain Marvel' Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Then in May 2019 is the follow up and as yet untitled follow up to 'Avengers : Infinity War'; and in July 2019 sees the return of 'Spider-Man' in an also untitled sequel to 'Homecoming' Directed by John Watts, and 2020 sees 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3' Directed once more by James Gunn. Two other untitled films are due also in 2020, with three films slated for 2021 and 2022 also. Let's also not forget the upcoming release of 'Deadpool 2' in May this year too, which although not part of the MCU, is a Marvel creation nonetheless and fits more into the 'X-Men' series.

This week with five new release movies coming to an Odeon near you. There is the eagerly awaited Superhero extravaganza, the third instalment in this story line and the 19th film in this particular universe, and its gonna be massive as our ever expanding group of superheroes must band together to overcome the super badass of all time from trashing Earth and possible half the known universe. We then go to an ultra low budget psychological horror film shot on a iPhone by an alleged retired Director, and starring The Queen no less (well perhaps not quite!) This is followed up by a tale of three Vietnam Vets who reunite after thirty years to bury a soldier son killed in Iraq, and the road trip of reacquaintance, rediscovery and retelling of old war stories that accompanies their journey. Then we move to a Russian foreign language offering of a parents very bitter divorce and their twelve year old son caught in the middle; before closing out with a Doco about a highly acclaimed Australian indigenous singer and musician who on the cusp of global fame died just three days after this film was in the can.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new 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 warmly 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 outing during the coming week.

'AVENGERS : INFINITY WAR' (Rated M) - and so finally after much hype, eager anticipation, and huge expectations comes the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sequel to 2013 'The Avengers' which grossed US$1.52B off the back of a US$200M Budget outlay, and 2015's 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron' which grossed US$1.4B off a Budget of US$267M. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo who also Directed 'Captain America : Winter Soldier', and 'Captain America : Civil War', as well as the post-credits sequence that rounded out 'Ant-Man' and featuring a huge A-List ensemble cast, the like of which has quite possibly never before been seen on the big screen to such an extent. The Russo Brothers are also Directing the as yet unnamed sequel to this film which is due for release in early May 2019 and which was shot back to back over a twelve month period from January 2017 through January 2018. The film cost somewhere northward of US$300M to make and is one of the most expensive films ever made, and Marvel's most costly to date.

Here all The Avengers we have come to know, love and respect from the previous two instalments and their own stand alone films, plus a few ring-ins must unite two years following the events of 'Captain America : Civil War', to thwart their most powerful enemy yet, the evil Thanos (Josh Brolin). Arriving on Earth on a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to bend reality at his will. He is an intergalactic despot from Titan who wants to rebalance the universe using the Infinity Stones after his home planet was destroyed because he believes the universe is becoming overpopulated, and wants to ensure that such an occurrence never happens again. The fate of our little blue planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything The Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment. Starring, and forgive me if I miss some off the list, Robert Downey Jnr. as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, Tom Holland as Spider-Man, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Paul Bettany as Vision, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Benicio del Toro as The Collector, the collective known as The Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana) and also featuring the likes of Elizabeth Olsen, Karen Gillan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danai Gurira, Cobie Smulders, Angela Bassett, Jon Favreau, Letitia Wright, Terry Notary and of course Stan Lee. It's gonna be big!

'UNSANE' (Rated MA15+) - here we have an American psychological horror film shot entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus by that 'retired' Director, Editor and Cinematographer Steven Soderbergh, and released through his own Production Company too. Clearly being very budget minded, this film cost a mere US$1.5M to make, has so far grossed US$12M since its World Premier screening at the Berlin International Film Festival in late February and its US release in late March, and has garnered generally positive press. Here Claire Foy plays Sawyer Valentini (in a role about as far removed from her award winning turn as HRH QEII in 'The Crown' as you can possibly imagine) who relocates from Boston to Pennsylvania to escape from the man who's been stalking her for the past two years, David Strine (Joshua Leonard). While engaging with a victims support group, she consults with a therapist, resulting in Valentini unwittingly signing herself up for a voluntary 24-hour commitment to the Highland Creek Behavioural Centre. Her stay at the facility soon gets extended to a week when doctors and nurses begin to question her sanity. It soon dawns on Valentini that one of the staffers is her stalker and she'll need to resort to whatever means necessary to stay alive and fight her way out. Also starring Juno Temple, Matt Damon and Amy Irving.

'THE LAST FLAG FLYING' (Rated M) - this American comedy drama film is Directed by Richard Linklater and Co-Written for the screen by him too in conjunction with Darryl Ponicsan, who wrote the 2005 novel of the same name upon which the film is based, which in turn is described as an unofficial sequel to his earlier 1970 work 'The Last Detail' which was adapted into a film in 1973 starring Jack Nicholson. The film here surrounds Vietnam War vets, the recently widowed Larry 'Doc' Shepherd (Steve Carell), Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and the Rev. Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburn) who reunite thirty years after serving together during that War, but this time for a very different type of mission: to bury Doc's son, a young Marine killed in Iraq. Deciding to bypass a military burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Doc and his old buddies take the casket on a bittersweet trip up the coast to New Hampshire. Along the way, the three men find themselves reminiscing about their previous wartime exploits and adventures, whilst coming to terms with the shared memories of a war that continues to shape their lives. The film was released in the US in early November, has so far taken just US$1.5M at the Box Office and has met with generally positive Reviews.

'LOVELESS' (Rated MA15+) - is a Russian language film Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Andrey Zvyagintsev (whose previous credits include 2014's 'Leviathan'). This film was entered in to official competition at the May 2017 Cannes Film Festival where it took out the Jury Prize, and it was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at this years 90th Academy Awards, as well as a Golden Globe and BAFTA nods in the same category. The film was released in Russia in mid-2017, has since taken US$4.5M at the Box Office, has garnered seventeen award wins and a further thirty nominations from around the festival circuit and has received much Critical acclaim. The story here is about a missing twelve year old lad Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) and his parents, father Boris (Aleksey Rozin) and mother Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) who are going through a bitter divorce, in which young Alyosha is caught up in front and centre. Feeling unloved, unheard, unhappy and unwanted by either side, Alyosha carries an enormous weight upon his shoulders. So much so that his constantly fighting parents don't even register his disappearance until 48 hours after the fact. Both parents have moved on with their lives and are with different partners, but the young boys disappearance forces them back together as they struggle to come to terms with his missing, and whether he is alive, dead or simply on the run and rebelling against them.

'GURRUMUL' (Rated PG) - Directed and Written by Paul Williams this Bio-Pic of celebrated Australian Aboriginal artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was one of the most important and acclaimed voices to ever come out of Australia as well a being a talented musician and multi-instrumentalist playing the drums, guitar, keyboard and didgeridoo. Blind from birth, he found purpose and meaning through songs and music inspired by his community and country on Elcho Island in far North East Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory. Living a traditional Yolngu life, his breakthrough album ‘Gurrumul’ released in 2008 and going triple platinum on the ARIA Charts brought him to a crossroads as audiences and artists around the world began to embrace his music. This is a portrait of an artist on the brink of global reverence, and the struggles he and those closest to him faced in balancing that which mattered most to him and keeping the show on the road. Gurrumul approved the final version of this film just three days before his death from liver and kidney disease on 25th July 2017.

With five new release films out 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 week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-