What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 8th January 2015.

In Australia the mercury continues to rise by the day with predictable clear blue skies, sunshine and humidity all the way as we approach the height of Summer. It seems that a cool air conditioned cinema is one of the few places to escape the soaring temperatures, and what better way to do so than watching one of the many great new films currently on general release, or coming your way in the week ahead.

For this week we have four new offerings - two of which are sequels - one of the action revenge genre and the other a buddy buddy comedy; one is a big name musical that might pack a few scares and some solid CGI; and the other a documentary about a recently departed legendary film critic that is likely to resonate with anyone who has more than a remote interest in films and what this guy had to say about them . . . including the author of this Blog!

There then you have it, and when you have cooled down, or warmed up (depending on which Hemisphere you live in) and seen any one (or more) of this weeks new releases Previewed below, drop a note in the Comments section immediately below this Blog Post and share your thoughts and opinions of your film experience with the rest of the growing readership of Odeon Online. Enjoy your movie!

INTO THE WOODS (Rated PG) - this film comes with a very strong pedigree - both in front and behind the camera! Firstly the source material is from those master story tellers of old - The Brothers Grimm, and combines the tales of Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) and Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone) into a modern updated tale that melds all these characters into one neat little package surrounding a cursed baker and his wife who long for a child but are unable to conceive because of a curse placed on them by the local Witch (Meryl Streep). Then we have Disney Studio's doing what they do the best - animation, musical and good storytelling transferred to the big screen. Next comes Director Rob Marshall, who has based the film on the Tony Award winning stage musical of the same name by James Lapine who wrote this screenplay, with music by Stephen Sondheim - a great package indeed!

So, offering to lift the aforementioned spell The Witch tasks the baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) with sourcing four items that have special significance for her - a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. When these items are finally procured after various mishaps and misadventures, each of our fairy tale heroes discover that life is not so 'happily ever after' at all and they each have to face their own further challenges, emotional upheaval and ruinous circumstances that lead to further tragedy, doubt and uncertainty. Along the ensemble cast includes Cinderella's Prince (Chris Pine), Jack's Mother (Tracey Ullman), The Wolf (Johnny Depp), Frances de la Tour (The Giant's Wife) and Annette Crosbie (Granny) amongst others. Made for US$50M and so far having taken US$97M at the time of writing, this film has already picked up five award wins and a further 25 award nominations including three Golden Globe nods.

TAK3N (Rated M) - Bryan Mills is back again doing what he does best as the trying to be retired covert operations expert in the third and probably final instalment of this successful franchise for which the first two films brought in US$603M in worldwide receipts. Liam Neeson returns as our titular hero, but only agreed to do so if nobody in this film was 'taken' and he was paid the princely sum of US$20M. Well, voila, here we are, but this time while attempting to re-establish his home life after the events of the previous two films Mills is back reconciled with his wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), but before you know she winds up d-e-a-d! In no time at all the local Police arrive on the scene and caught seemingly red handed Mills is arrested - or at least that's what the local boys in blue attempt to do . . .  unsuccessfully! Having been framed for murder, and learning that his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) is next on the hit list Mills plays a fast paced game of cat & mouse with all manner of law enforcement agencies who have him on the run and guilty as all hell until proven innocent. With Mills employing his 'particular set of skills' to thwart the real bad guys and elude the long arm of the law whilst clearing his name and protecting his one remaining asset (daughter Kim) you can be sure this actioner will deliver on body count, creative deaths, close quarter fight sequences, ingenious weaponry, car chases and explosions aplenty before the credits roll for the last time . . .  possibly! Also starring Forest Whittaker and Dougray Scott.

DUMB AND DUMBER TO (Rated M) - it was back in 1994 that Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne respectively first emerged on the scene courtesy of Writers/Directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly. That film then was new & fresh - the gross out humour, dumb-arse laughs and sheer stupidity of these two characters made for just US$17M it grossed US$247M twenty years ago and help cement the fame of these two Actors. Now fast forward to 2014 and the pair are reunited and as stupid and dumb-arsed as ever having hardly grown up at all, but this time Harry has learned that he has a daughter, and so the pair embark on a road trip to find her with no doubt hilarious and disastrous results for all. Should be a laugh a minute . . . or not, and might appeal to teenagers who never saw the original and have nothing to compare it to!

LIFE ITSELF (Rated M) - this is a biographical documentary as made by Steve James celebrating and chronicling the life of legendary film critic Roger Ebert who died in April 2013 following a prolonged battle with cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands. Ebert was 70 when he died but made such an impact of the world of film review writing that he was the first writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1975, and approaching his death his movie reviews were syndicated to over 200 newspapers at home in the US and internationally. He also wrote numerous books and collected works of his film reviews. He was/is the only film critic to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and his long running 25 year partnership with Gene Siskel with whom he hosted many television film review shows was hugely successful and influential. This film captures the essence of the man through his prolific film writing career, to his battle with alcoholism, and his struggles with cancer that left him physically disabled and to which he eventually succumbed. With contributions from Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, immediate family, close friends, former colleagues and collaborators this is an insightful film that pays fitting tribute to the great man, the legacy he leaves behind and his life behind the camera and in front of his keyboard.

Once more, four very different offerings to entice the price of a movie ticket from out of your wallet. Something for everyone, and when you have seen one of these, or any of those currently doing the rounds as Previewed or Reviewed in previous weeks, then drop a Comment, and share with the world!

Movies - see as many as you can in 2015!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-