What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 21st August 2014.

This week we have a low key offering of new releases that are far removed from the likes of what we have seen in more recent times. There are no mega budget action flicks here, no Superhero instalments, no horror, no otherworldly SciFi, no crime thrillers, no zombie gore fests, and no end-of-the-world apocalyptic offerings - just a bunch of films that are flying gently under the radar that are likely to find an audience for the stories, the stars and the spectacle they provide. We have the English lads abroad Down Under in Australia for the second big screen instalment of this very popular UK TV series; we have an explosives expert notching up his first century and on the run; we have a voyage to the bottom of the sea; an insight into the day in the life of an iconic mysterious musician; and a story of two men separated by 100 years whose lives & legacies become intertwined and from which millions will in time benefit!

If you get out to a movie in the coming week to watch one of these Previewed below, or any one of a host of others currently on general release, then drop me a line in the comments box of this Blog and let my other Reader know what you think! Enjoy your experience.

FREEDOM (Rated M) - This film is the journey of two men separated by one hundred years, both searching for freedom. The first is Samuel Woodward (Cuba Gooding Jnr.) an 1856 slave whose story we join as he and his family escape from their plantation near Richmond, Virginia. Aided and abetted by a secret underground network they escape north to Canada all the while hunted by Plimpton (William Sadler) who is relentless in his pursuit. Knowing what he, his family and his forefathers have endured for decades before at the hands and mercies of their white enslavers, Woodward must decide on a path to freedom, or a path to revenge. One hundred years earlier Captain John Newton is at the helm of a slave ship travelling from Africa to America with a cargo of slaves ready to occupy the plantations and farms of the rich landowners of the New World. On board this vessel is the great grandfather of Samuel Woodward who's fate rests in the hands of Captain Newton. The voyage will change Newton's life forever and carve out a legacy that will give Samuel inspiration one hundred years hence, as it will millions of lives for generations to come. From first time Director Peter Cousens, but no stranger to the world of stage and screen, this is likely to strike a chord with lovers of the genre.

THE INBETWEENERS 2 (Rated MA15+) - clearly the first big screen outing for these teenage likely lads was enough of a box office hit to warrant a re-run, and so with a change of scenery we find our young heroes heading Down Under to go walkabout, throw a shrimp on the barbie and open a tinnie! Directed and written by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley we have the four same lads (older now by about six months after the first film) decamping to the other side of the world for some sun, sand, sea, and shenanigans. And so Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), and Neil (Blake Harrison) visit Jay (James Buckley) enjoying his gap year Down Under and arrive in our fair sun drenched land to regroup, reunite, and reward themselves with adventure. Along the way they get involved with girls, go bush, get lost, almost die, get rescued and all live happily ever after having learnt something about themselves and each other! Voila - job done!

THE ONE HUNDRED-YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED (Rated M) - This Swedish film is likely to delight, and don't be put off by the fact that it is about an old centenarian codger trying to rekindle the last vestiges of his life before he pops his clogs! Robert Gustafsson stars as 100 year old Allan Karisson (in reality he is 50) a man who has changed the course of history and has met and befriended many world famous leaders and personalities in his time as a dynamite expert. Holed up in an old folks home where he has been removed to after blowing up a fox that ate his beloved cat, he decides on his 100th birthday that it's time already to get outta there. What ensues is a voyage of rediscovery, an adventure, a road movie, a brush with various personalities - some good and some not so good, a black comedy, a history lesson and a character study all rolled neatly into a surprisingly delightful little package. The shorts looks great, and based on the best selling book by Jonas Jonasson and Directed by Felix Herngren this might just be a sleepy little hit that looks quirky enough to inspire you out to a theatre on a cold Winter's night!

20,000 DAYS ON EARTH (Rated CTC) - this doco-movie tells the fictitious story of a day in the life of Nick Cave - the mysterious iconic musician as we chart his creative processes, his artistic influences, the people and situations that inspire him, his collaborators, friends, mentors and what makes the man tick. Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard this is neither fact nor fiction, neither rock bio-pic nor concert epic - we chart through his life, his early years upon which he continues to draw for inspiration and his own history that shapes his songs, his screenplays and his story telling. He opens up with friends (Kylie Minogue and Ray Winstone) and a shrink (real or not Darian Leader?) and we gain an insight into the creative genius, the man at work, the performer and his private musings.

JAMES CAMERON'S DEEP SEA CHALLENGE (3D Rated PG) - Director of 'Avatar', 'The Abyss', 'Terminator', 'Titanic', 'Aliens' etc. the most successful Movie Director of all time James Cameron is also an adventurer. Having ventured to the bottom of the ocean to film the Titanic in its final resting place, he chose the bottom of the Mariana Trench for his next epic voyage of discovery - the deepest place on Earth - seven miles down under the ocean surface somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. To boldly go where no man has gone before and supported by The National Geographic magazine this charts his groundbreaking (or ocean diving) journey in a single man capsule down through the wild blue nether regions of the ocean to discover what lies beneath, and then film it all in glorious eye popping 3D Hi-Def Technicolour for us to gawp in wonder at the never before seen sights to behold. It is an epic journey not likely to be repeated any time soon because of the obvious dangers (and costs) involved, and on this basis it should be a film that all should see from an adventure, education, historical and scientific standpoint - a film for all ages!

There it is - once more five very different offerings from this weeks new releases to surprise, delight and tantalise you. What ever you choose to see over the coming week, share your experiences with us all at Odeon Online, and don't be shy!

Movies . . . see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-