THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

A feast of movies opening this week - but that doesn't mean they are substantial meals, of course! Here they are...

MY TOP PICK TO SEE

I've been waiting to see SNOWPIERCER for a while now - the trailers look great. Well... it's finally here! Set in a future where a failed climate-change experiment kills all life on the planet except for a lucky few who boarded the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe, where a class system emerges. I managed to see it today and it's excellent! I'll review shortly. In the meantime, The Guardian's Andrew Pulver is spot on when he says, The way the allegory works out is not exactly subtle or unexpected, but is strangely moving, despite the gruesomeness that has gone before. All in all, a treat. Watch out for my review soon.

OTHERS TO SEE

THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND VANISHED looks charming. It's a Swedish adventure comedy about dynamite expert Allan Karlsson's life, and the unlikely events following his escape from the old folk's home on his 100th birthday. The original title of the movie is entertainment in itself: Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann. I wonder if they'll give us free tickets if we can pronounce it at the door!

Australian writer and musician, Nick Cave, is celebrated in 20,000 DAYS ON EARTH. It's a documentary in which Nick Cave marks his 20,000th day on the planet Earth. I don't know much about Nick Cave and I don't usually head to the cinema of documentaries. But this one might be worth it. According to Variety's Rob Nelson, it's An aptly intense and innovative study of pioneering rock poet Nick Cave, 20,000 Days on Earth playfully disguises itself as fiction while more than fulfilling the requirements of a biographical documentary.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

I haven't seen the original The Inbetweeners movie, but THE INBETWEENERS 2 has arrived with the general public rating it around ***1/2 stars. The movie description is rich with detail (not): Jay, Neil, Simon, and Will reunite in Australia for a holiday.

James Cameron, the director of Avatar, has produced a 3D documentary called DEEPSEA CHALLENGE which chronicles the filmmaker James Cameron's diving expeditions in his Deepsea Challenger submersible. The critics aren't overly happy with this one. For example, New York Daily News says that Seeing unexplored parts of our natural world in state-of-the-art 3-D is great. Listening to James Cameron explain how wonderful he is, while we see all that, is not. General public are rating it slightly above average - but not much.

Yet another slave trade movie arrives on our screens. FREEDOM tells the story of two men separated by 100 years who are united in their search for freedom. In 1856 a slave, Samuel Woodward and his family, escape from the Monroe Plantation near Richmond, Virginia. A secret network of ordinary people known as the Underground Railroad guide the family on their journey north to Canada. They are relentlessly pursued by the notorious slave hunter Plimpton. Hunted like a dog and haunted by the unthinkable suffering he and his forbears have endured, Samuel is forced to decide between revenge or freedom. 100 years earlier in 1748, John Newton the Captain of a slave trader sails from Africa with a cargo of slaves, bound for America. On board is Samuel's great grandfather whose survival is tied to the fate of Captain Newton. The voyage changes Newton's life forever and he creates a legacy that will inspire Samuel and the lives of millions for generations to come. Don't have any information about this one yet - will let you know when I have.

ONE TO AVOID

Finally, one to avoid - POSTMAN PAT: THE MOVIE. A veteran postman finds his beliefs challenged after he enters a TV talent show competition. The Hollywood Reporter's, Frank Scheck, reckons this movie ... is a mostly charmless and dark affair. And CineVue,'s Jamie Neish says it ... is a disappointment; a modern-day reinvention of a traditional, much-loved classic that differs so far from its comfort zone that it'll have a difficult time winning audiences, let alone maintaining there attention.

That's it for this week. See you at the movies!

NB: synopses of movies are adapted from IMDB. Opinions are mine unless quoted from cited sources.