What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 28th August 2014.

A fist full of films for your cinematic consideration over the coming week that range from the experimental, the Sci-Fi fantastic, the largely predictable, the local long arm of the law, and another Sci-Fi that you may have seen before . . . or maybe not! Down Under it is the last week of Winter and Springtime beckons with the promise of longer days and warmer evenings - but, having been in the grip of an almost continuous deluge for the last two weeks there is no better time to get out to your local movie theatre for an evening of great entertainment in front of the big screen to forget about the rain and steal yourself off to someplace else!

When you have done that drop me at line at this, your trusted filmic Blog, and let me and my other Reader know what you thought of your big screen experience by recording it in the Comments sections following immediately after every Post. Thanks!

LOCKE (Rated MA15+) - Ivan Locke is played by Tom Hardy, and he occupies all 90 minutes or so of screen time at the wheel of his car driving down an English Motorway from Point A to Point B. He will step out of his car eventually a very different man to when he stepped in, and this is the central premise of the film - handled deftly by relative newcomer Director, Stephen Knight who also wrote the Screenplay. As the film begins Locke we learn is a construction worker leaving his building site place of work - he is a respected worker and a committed family man. He jumps into his car to begin his journey and along the way through the darkness of night, his family life will crumble away and his career will implode as he unburdens himself en route with what will be the biggest mistake of his life. All this occurs through phone conversations he has with other key players in his life during his journey. These other actors are not seen, simply heard over the speaker phone in the car but give compelling voice performances to make this taught, tight and gripping from start to end. This coupled with dazzling night time lights, the darkness and solitude of Locke's vehicle, his own musings broken up by telephone calls, and his muffled sounds contemplating the magnitude of his actions should make for compelling viewing from an actor who is quickly establishing himself at the top of his form.

MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT (Rated PG) - another year and another Woody Allen film - this time a period piece set on the Cote d'Azur in the early 20's. We find Englishman abroad, Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth who is in just about a new film every fortnight right now!) who plays Chinese magician by night and a debunker of all things mystic, psychic and paranormal during the day. He crosses paths with American clairvoyant Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) engaged by rich well-to-do socialite Grace Catledge (Jacki Weaver) to connect with her dearly departed husband. Needless to say Crawford is less than impressed . . . initially, but in time comes to believe in Baker's powers - despite that fact too that as an old letch advanced enough in years to be her father, he is drawn to her beauty -  physical, mental and emotional. This looks good, and it seems that Allen has recreated the era very well, and predictably it will doubtless contain all the usual Allen touchstones with which we have become all too familiar. Is this in the same vein as his recent 'Blue Jasmine' - methinks not, but is likely to be enjoyable fluff for ardent Allen fans!

PREDESTINATION (Rated MA15+) - Directed and Written by Australian brothers Michael and Peter Spierig this is going to mess with your mind in a way that 'Inception' did - but in a good way and leave you musing over it for long after the credits have rolled. As the film opens we are in 1975 New York where a man is attempting to diffuse a bomb set by the mysterious 'Fizzle Bomber', but things go awry and he awakens in the future, in hospital and with a new face (this is Ethan Hawke, our time travelling hero of the piece) who is now a 'temporal agent' that can travel through time with a portable device he carries around in a violin case. He needs to go back to that time, but can do so with a whole new persona to go incognito (becoming 'The Bartender'), and so ultimately thwart the Fizzle Bomber and his/her evil plot. Along the way The Bartender encounters a strange man who goes by the name of 'The Unmarried Mother' (played in a career defining best by Australian Sarah Snook) from whom he must eek out the truth, and her connection with The Fizzle Bomber. There are twists & turns aplenty here to keep you guessing all the way to the end in what has been described as intelligent, original and brave film making that is sure to find it's place in the annals of Sci-Fi cult classic.

FELONY (Rated M) - Writen, Produced and Starring our own Joel Edgerton, 'Felony' is his offering to the gritty Police drama seen from the perspective of Sydney's mean streets with its dark underbelly, on both sides of the law! Following a successful drug bust, Detective Malcolm Toohey (Joel Edgerton) drives himself home after a night of celebration under the influence of alcohol, and is involved in an car accident that leaves a young lad in a coma. The following investigation sees young cop Jim Melic (Jai Courtney) and old hand Detective Carl Summer (Tom Wilkinson) working to uncover the truth or cover it up, and in doing so just how far will these three Policemen go to let the truth be told, or conceal it forever! With a strong cast that also includes Melissa George, this has some great hallmarks of a true big screen Aussie Drama that we can turn on so well when we want to!

EARTH TO ECHO (Rated PG) - this is a 'found footage' style of film involving three young lads who have spent their lives together (Tuck, Munch & Alex) - up until now, and that is all about to change when the Las Vegas suburb in which they live is to be uprooted to make way for a new highway. Spending their last week together before they all relocate with their respective families to the far flung corners of the US they experience strange and weird things happening with mobile phone signals, and all manner of sounds and messages emanating from the handsets across the suburb . . . but only within the suburb. The construction company working on the new highway believe it is their fault, and so hand out new phones to the locals thinking this will cure the problem. What Munch discovers from an image he receives is that it matches a desert some 20 miles away, and so the lads decide they had better investigate. Going undercover of darkness having spun a yarn to their unsuspecting parents, and taking local young hot chic, Emma, along too, they venture out in to the desert armed only with each other for support, their wits and a torch. They discover a small and friendly alien robot who has become stranded on Planet Earth -  they call it 'Echo', and quickly learn that our pint sized robot needs spare electrical parts to repair his space ship so he can return home (are you thinking 'E.T.' here or 'Super 8' as I am?). So the lads come to the rescue with trouble along the way in the form of Government Officials also hot on the trail of a crashed UFO somewhere in the vicinity. Needless to say all undoubtedly ends well; the lads discover something about themselves, each other and their friendship; and everyone returns home - some further away than others!

Some solid entertainment choices to tempt you out to your local multiplex this coming week! So pay a visit and let me know what you think!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-