A Week In Movies: More High-Profile Releases, Trailers For Muscle-Man Movies, And A New Life Of Jesus

In the wake of last week's Catching Fire fever, new releases this week are a little more low key. Thanksgiving audiences in America will be choosing between Disney's acclaimed new animated film Frozen and Spike Lee's much more adult remake of the 2003 Korean thriller Oldboy. 

Meanwhile in the UK moviegoers will get a taste of Thanksgiving in the wacky animated romp Free Birds, plus a chance to savour the awards-buzz on Saving Mr Banks, about Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) trying to coerce PL Travers (Emma Thompson) into signing over the rights to her book Mary Poppins. Read our Saving Mr. Banks review here.

This week has also been a bit quiet for new trailers. But we got our first glimpse of the new toga action movie. The Legend Of Hercules stars a pumped-up Kellan Lutz as the muscled he-man prince alongside fellow hunks Scott Adkins (Zero Dark Thirty) and Liam McIntyre (Spartacus). It looks like a cheesy guilty pleasure along the lines of 300 and Immortals, and opens next summer. Watch the trailer for The Legend Of Hercules now!

Lutz also plays the equally beefy, and rather less clothed, Tarzan in a new performance-capture animated adventure that looks like a big action epic. In the trailer, the story looks somewhat overblown, but the visuals are impressive enough to make the film worth seeing in 3D. It opens in the spring. See the trailer for the new Tarzan animation here!

Former Tarzan-like actor Brendan Fraser stars in Gimme Shelter, as a man trying to help tearaway daughter Vanessa Hudgens get her life back on track. It looks like a fairly intense drama with strongly religious overtones, and costars Rosario Dawson and James Earl Jones. It opens in America in January. Watch Vanessa Hugdens in the Gimme Shelter trailer here.

Speaking of religious overtones, a new movie about the life of Jesus Christ is on its way. Son of God is a lavishly produced drama tracing the relationship between Jesus and his followers. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado (Revenge) plays Jesus opposite a cast of relatively unknown costars. Opening in cinemas in late February in America and early march in Britain, the film is directed by Christopher Spencer, who made this year's hit series The Bible. Watch the trailer for Son Of God here.

And finally, the Oscar-winning 1988 Italian classic Cinema Paradiso is being re-stored and re-released for its 25th anniversary. The story of a young boy's love of movies and friendship with an old projectionist is based on filmmaker Guiseppe Tornatore's own rural childhood and captures plenty of cinematic magic. The re-release trailer reminds us that it's definitely worth seeing again on the big screen. Watch the all new trailer for Cinema Paradiso here.

Rich Cline