What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 31st March 2016.

Last week I introduced you to the first six of my Top 12 movies likely to bust a block at our cinema screens for the balance of 2016, and that didn't include 'Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice' released just one week ago and already notching up globally US$469M and rising. Here then are the final six in the movies to watch out for in the latter half of 2016 counting down all the way to Boxing Day, with SciFi, further comic book adaptations from both Marvel and DC, a further outing from a much loved CIA Agent, a video game adaptation that we hope will break the mould of previous dodgy video game adaptations, and a fantastic story from an acclaimed author who already has a pretty good track record on the silver screen with a certain young wizard. Check these out, and mark the date.

• July 21st - 'STAR TREK : BEYOND' - Directed by Justin Lin and co-written by Simon Pegg with J.J.Abrams taking a Producer credit this time around, we have here the third instalment in this rebooted franchise, that sees Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S.Enterprise stranded on a lonely planet and under attack from a powerful and relentless wave of alien foes.
• July 28th - 'JASON BOURNE' - he's back, and once more Directed by Paul Greengrass in the fifth film in this hugely successful franchise and the follow up to 2012's 'The Bourne Legacy' with Matt Damon back as our titular hero with Acting, Producing and Screenwriting credits.
• August 4th - 'SUICIDE SQUAD' - Directed by David Ayer and the second outing of the year in the DC Extended Universe sees a secret government agency hiring incarcerated supervillains  to undertake potentially deadly missions in exchange for a pardon of their past crimes. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis and Joel Kinnaman star.
• October 27th - 'DOCTOR STRANGE' - the final Marvel Cinematic Universe offering of the year sees us introduced to a new character as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of top neurosurgeon Stephen Strange who after a car accident that brings his brilliant career to an end encounters the magical and mystical Ancient One, who sets the Doctor on a whole new path. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton and Rachel McAdams also star in the Scott Derrickson Directed offering.
• November 17th - 'FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM' - Written by one J.K. Rowling, Directed by David Yates and starring Eddie Redmayne, this 1920's story tells us of a young magic zoologist in New York who needs to recover an array of escaped  fantastical creatures. Intended to be the first in three films this also stars Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight and Ron Perlman.
• December 26th - 'ASSASSINS CREED' - this has all the makings of a successful video game crossover into a mainstream movie with Justin Kurzel Directing Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch the direct descendant of a 15th Century secret society of Assassins who through revolutionary new technology is unable to unlock his ancestral past to thwart a powerful enemy in the present day. Also starring Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson.

To this weeks films then and there are just two to tempt you out in the week ahead, and both are very different. Both are however, based on real life events - one dramatised, and the other very dramatic. The first is a German foreign language offering set in the aftermath of WWII and the repercussions of bringing those to justice for their war crimes whilst serving in the concentration camps, and the efforts of one young man to do so. Then there is a dramatic turn of events on the world tallest peak as the intentions behind one film become the realities of another as tragedy strikes.

As always, we would love to hear your views and observations of any movie you have seen in the past week or any as Reviewed and Previewed here at Odeon Online. Feel free to leave a Comment in the box below this or any other Post, and share with your friends and like minded cinephiles. In the meantime, enjoy your movie.

LABYRINTH OF LIES (Rated M) - This German film is based on real events and was Written and Directed by Giulio Ricciarelli and screened at TIFF in early September last year ahead of its German premier in early November. It was shortlisted down to the final nine films for the Best Foreign Language Film at this years Academy Awards but failed to make the final cut. Set in 1958, thirteen years after the end of WWII and Germany is booming - rebuilding itself and looking ahead to a bright future where the past can be easily forgotten about. And the horrors for many are becoming a distant memory, not spoken of, kept quiet and almost brushed under the carpet for fear of reprisal. 

Until that is, Thomas Gnielka (Andre Szymanski) recognises a school teacher who was a former Commander at Auschwitz and Johann Radmann (Alexander Fehling) takes up the case as a young Prosecutor to bring the former Commander to justice for his war crimes. Along the way though, those efforts are often thwarted by Government officials who served in those same prison camps during the war and close ranks to protect their own now, even though to do so violates German law. Radmann's further investigations reveal many thousands of former Nazi's were allowed to return to their pre-war lives with no fear of penalty, but with youthful determination and ambition on his side, he perseveres and ultimately brings many to trial. A film that has received critical acclaim and that is as relevant today as it was sixty years ago.

SHERPA (Rated M) - unlike last years 'Everest' movie starring an impressive cast of A-listers facing closing storms and tragedy on the mountain top, this documentary film tells a very different story of that same mountain and the same era i.e. our very recent past, but from the other side of the mountaineering fence. Directed by Australian Jennifer Peedom who intended to make a film in the wake of the 2013 violent confrontations that took place between Sherpa's and adventure seeking tourists - the aptly named 'Everest Brawl' that was beemed around the world's TV channels and made international headlines. Looking to follow the 2014 season from the Sherpa's perspective and how their 'employment rights' are suffering at the hands of wealthy thrill seekers, Peedom and her crew were unexpectedly confronted with tragedy when a massive avalanche at Khumbu Icefall took the lives of sixteen Sherpa's, changing the multi-million Mount Everest Climbing industry forever. Despite this tragedy that unfolded all around them that changed the direction of the originally intended film completely, Peedom has crafted a grounded responsive documentary that has a respect for the often taken for granted Sherpa community, the beautiful yet hostile environment, and the dangers and the realities of the world highest peak all paired together with breathtaking cinematography courtesy of Renan Ozturk and Hugh Miller. A must see for a whole raft of reasons.

Just two films this week to join the great cinema content already out there and doing the rounds still, and as Reviewed and Previewed between these pages. Share your thoughts here at Odeon Online when you have sat through your movie of choice in the week ahead, and in the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-