* John Mahoney : Born 20th June 1940, died 4th February 2018, aged 77. Born in England, and moved to the US at the age of eighteen in 1959 gaining US Citizenship in 1971. He began a stage acting career in 1977 having become dissatisfied with his jobs as an English Teacher and then an Editor on a medical journal. Mahoney gained his film debut on the biographical drama 'Hudson Taylor' in 1981 and his television debut on the single series of thirteen episodes on crime drama 'Chicago Story' in 1982 and from that point on never looked back. His notable film appearances over the years included 'Tin Men' in 1987, 'Suspect' and 'Moonstruck' both in 1987, 'Frantic' and 'Eight Men Out' both in 1988, 'Say Anything' in 1989, 'The Russia House' in 1990, 'Barton Fink' in 1991, 'The Hudsucker Proxy' and 'Reality Bites' both in 1994, 'The American President' in 1995, and 'Primal Fear' and 'She's The One' both in 1996. There were also numerous television roles over the years too, but his most notable turn was as Martin Crane, father to Frasier and Niles Crane on 264 episodes across eleven seasons of the hit SitCom 'Frasier' from 1993 through until 2004. He also has one off appearances on the likes of 'Cheers', '3rd Rock from the Sun', 'Becker', 'ER', 'Burn Notice', Hot in Cleveland' and 'Foyle's War', and he lent his voice talents to several animated feature films. With 75 Acting credits to his name, Mahoney picked up three award wins and 23 nominations, the majority of which were for his work in 'Frasier' including two Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmy and nine SAG nods.
* Reg E. Cathey : Born 18th August 1958, died 9th February 2018, aged 59. An American Actor of film, television and stage who gained his first television appearance in 1984 in made for TV movie 'A Doctor's Story' going onto 24 episodes of the children's education programme 'Square One TV', and then 'Star Trek : The Next Generation', 'ER', 'The Blacklist', 'The Good Wife', '30 Rock', eight episodes on 'Oz', 23 episodes on 'The Wire', twelve episodes on 'Light's Out', fifteen episodes on the highly acclaimed 'House of Cards', and most recently on twenty episodes on 'Outcast'. His movie appearances included 'Born on the Fourth of July' in 1989, 'The Mask', 'Clear and Present Danger' and 'Airheads' all in 1994, 'Tank Girl' and 'Se7en' both in 1995, 'American Psycho' in 2000, 'S.W.A.T.' in 2003, 'The Machinist' in 2004, 'Arbitrage' in 2012, 'St. Vincent' in 2014, and 'Fantastic Four' in 2015. Cathey had 84 Acting credits to his name and was the recipient of one Primetime Emmy Award win for 'House of Cards' and another nine nominations of which six were also for 'House of Cards'.
* Johann Johannsson : Born 19th September 1969, died 9th February 2018, aged 48. Icelandic born Composer and Songwriter whose work is trademarked by combining traditional orchestration with contemporary electronic elements. He scored his first feature films and television work in his native Iceland in 2000 and for the successive years, landing his first mainstream film, The David Hollander Directed 'Personal Effects' in 2008. From here, he wrote the score for the likes of 'McCanick' in 2013, 'Prisoners' that same year, the critically acclaimed 'The Theory of Everything' in 2014, the equally acclaimed 'Sicario' in 2015, 'Arrival' in 2016, 'The Mercy' released just last week, and 'Mary Magdalene' released this week and Previewed below. He was working on Marc Foster's big screen adaptation of 'Christopher Robin' due later this year at the time of his death. All up Johannsson has 45 Composer credits, sixteen Soundtrack credits and was nominated for two Academy Awards, won one Golden Globe and was nominated for another, and three BAFTA nods amongst a total haul of twelve award wins and a further 57 nominations.
* Emma Chambers : Born 11th March 1964, died 21st February 2018, aged 53. English Actress with fifteen screen credits to her name, most notably on British television series. Her first appearance came on television mini-series 'The Rainbow' in 1988 after which she picked up regular work on 'The Bill', 'Martin Chuzzlewit', 'Drop The Dead Donkey', 'How Do You Want Me', 'Take A Girl Like You', 'Little Robots' and her most noted recurring role opposite Dawn French in 'The Vicar of Dibley' as Alice Tinker. In between time there were also big screen appearances in the likes of 'Notting Hill' opposite Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, and 'The Clandestine Marriage' opposite Joan Collins and Timothy Spall.
* Lewis Gilbert : Born 6th March 1920, died 23rd February 2018, aged 97. British Director, Producer and Screenwriter who had 42 Directing credits to his name, seventeen as Writer and twelve as Producer. His career spanned seven decades with his first Directorial credits coming in the early 1940's on a series of short documentary films. His most notable Directed films include 'Reach for the Sky' in 1956 with Kenneth Moore; 'Alfie' in 1966 with Michael Caine which was nominated for five Academy Awards; three Bond outings being 'You Only Live Twice' with Sean Connery in 1967, 'The Spy Who Loved Me' in 1977 with Roger Moore, and 'Moonraker' in 1979 with Roger Moore again. He also helmed 'Educating Rita' in 1983 with Michael Caine and Julie Walters, 'Shirley Valentine' in 1989 with Pauline Collins, 'Stepping Out' in 1991 with Liza Minelli, 'Haunted' in 1995 with Aiden Quinn and Kate Beckinsale, and his last film 'Before You Go' in 2002 with Julie Walters and John Hannah. Throughout his career he was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, three BAFTA nods and two wins, and a total of six other award wins and five other nominations. He was bestowed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours List, and in 2001 was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute.This week there are four new movies coming to an Odeon near you, that launch with a sequel to a Sci-fi monster action film that could be mistaken for 'Transformers vs. Godzilla' as cities get trashed and the end of the world as we know it looms close and it comes down to giant human piloted robots to save the day. We then have a change of pace and a change of genre that couldn't be more opposite, recounting the story of a female biblical character and a devout follower of Jesus Christ that has been referenced as the thirteenth Apostle. Then for another change we turn to a low budget horror film about a mysterious UFO death cult, two brothers who escaped and decide to return ten years later only to discover that the more things have remained the same the more they have changed. We then wrap up with a modern updated live action animated telling of a famed children's story featuring a cunning rabbit, his family, his friends, his nemesis and a vegetable patch.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are here cordially invited to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.
'PACIFIC RIM : UPRISING' (Rated M) - in 2013 the initial Sci-Fi monster action film in this apparent franchise 'Pacific Rim' as Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro grossed US$411M off its US$190M budget. That film was set in the very near future when huge alien sea monsters called 'Kaiju' emerged from an interdimensional portal called 'The Breach' at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Over the following three years, the Kaiju wreak havoc upon coastal cities along the 'Ring of Fire', such as San Francisco, Sydney, Manila, and Hong Kong. Humanity responds by constructing massive robotic machines called 'Jaegers' to combat the Kaiju threat that are piloted by two or more individuals via a neural bridge. That first instalment received generally positive press and picked up six award wins and a further 47 nominations mostly for Production Design and Visual FX.
Now on the strength of that success we have the second instalment, 'Pacific Rim : Uprising', Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written this time by Steven S. DeKnight with Gulliermo del Toro taking a Co-Producer credit. Made for US$150M this film is set ten years after the events of the first film, and where the oceans of the world have become restless once again. However, during the ensuing years the technology and the investment into the Jaeger programme has advanced further into the next generation. When a mystery outfit reopens The Breach so allowing the Kaiju to escape once more and a rogue Jaeger running amok, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega, who also Co-Produces) rises to the fight to help thwart the Kaiju and the rogue Jaeger from wiping out all of humankind while preserving his fathers legacy (Stacker Pentecost from the first film as played by Idris Elba). Filmed in Australia and China, and starring Scott Eastwood and Charlie Day, this is said to be a springboard for a future cinematic universe with discussions already occurring about the third offering, and then future spin-offs and stand alone films . . . if this film gets enough bums on seats!
'MARY MAGDALENE' (Rated M) - here Australian film maker Garth Davis (whose previous film credit was his debut internationally acclaimed 'Lion' in 2016) turns his attention to a dramatic biblical retelling of the story of Mary Magdalene, a Jewish woman who travelled with Jesus as one of his followers and is also said to have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, and is often referred to as the thirteenth Apostle. According to the four Gospels she is mentioned more times than most of the other Apostles, and is said to have been the first person to see Jesus following his resurrection, and the first to testify to that fact. This is her story. Starring Rooney Mara as Mary Magdalene, Joaquin Phoenix at Jesus, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter, Tahir Rahim as Judas, and Ryan Corr as Joseph the film has so far garnered mixed or average Reviews at best. The film has so far taken just over US$2M since its UK and some European countries release last week.
'THE ENDLESS' (Rated M) - this American low budget horror film had its Premier screening at the Tribeca Film Festival back in April last year where the film created quite a stir (for all the right reasons) and subsequently has picked up four award wins and another five nominations from around the festival circuit. The film is Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, is Co-Produced by them, is Written and Co-Edited by Benson, with Moorhead acting as Cinematographer, and to cap it all, then both take on the lead roles in the film as brothers Justin and Aaron Smith (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead respectively). The films premise here is that the brothers were raised in a remote Southern Californian campsite as part of a mysterious UFO death cult, but they were able to successfully escape - the only ones to do so. Having lived an obscure dead end life for the last ten years, their interest is sparked once again by the arrival of a video tape from a young lady within the group. Justin wants to leave well alone, but Aaron is more intrigued and so convinces his brother to venture back to the campsite for just one more day and one night to say G'day! The brothers find the cult pretty much as they remember it. But, no one appears to have aged, and the woman who sent them the tape, Anna (Callie Hernandez) claims to have no idea what they’re talking about, and the cult leader, Hal (Tate Ellington) seems far less menacing than they remember him. And yet, something is definitely out of kilter.
'PETER RABBIT' (Rated PG) - over the years there have been numerous renditions of the famed Beatrix Potter childrens stories dating back to 1902 surrounding the adventures of one Peter Rabbit and his family and friends. And so now in 2018 we have this updated live action computer generated animated comedy offering Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Will Gluck whose previous credits include 'Annie', 'Friends with Benefits' and 'Easy A'. So here we have Peter Rabbit (voiced by James Cordon) and his three sisters - Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki) and Cotton-Tail (Daisy Ridley) all enjoying their days picking on Mr. McGregor (Sam Neill) and stealing his vegetables that he has lovingly planted in his garden. When Mr. McGregor suddenly dies of a heart attack, Peter and his woodland creature friends take over the house. Mr. McGregor's nephew Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) inherits the home, and realising that it has some value moves in with plans to upgrade and sell for a tidy profit to help fund a business venture he has in mind. However, he's less than thrilled to discover a family of rabbits and various others have taken up residence in his new home. A battle of wits soon erupts as McGregor hatches scheme after scheme to get rid of Peter - a resourceful rabbit who proves to be a worthy and cunning opponent. Also starring the voices of Rose Byrne, Ewen Leslie, Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, David Wenham and Sia, the film was released in the US in early February, cost US$50M to make, has so far grossed US$147M and has received mixed or average Reviews so far.With four new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online, and meanwhile, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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