What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th April 2018.

In March, the world bid a fond farewell to number of stars of the silver screen and the small screen. In brief, shown below, is my passing tribute to those stars who leave an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, and in particular the world of film and television. May you all Rest In Peace, and thanks for the memories.

* David Ogden Stiers : Born 31st October 1942, died 3rd March 2018, aged 75. In a career spanning five decades across television, film and stage, Stiers got his break in the 1971 film 'THX 1138' as the announcer by a young up & coming Writer, Director and Producer George Lucas, and then the Jack Nicholson Directed 'Drive, He Said' that same year. His next screen role came on a single episode of 'Kojak' in 1975 and from this point he would work regularly across feature films, made for television films, multiple episodes on television series and single guest appearances. His most notable stint came as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on 'M*A*S*H' across 131 episodes from 1977 through until the series ended in 1983. He lent his voice talents to numerous film and television roles over the years including on 32 episodes of 'American Experience', thirteen episodes on 'Teachers Pet', 66 episodes on 'Lilo & Stitch : The Series' and more recently on eighteen episodes of 'The Regular Show'. He appeared in eight 'Perry Mason' television films in the late '80's, in 'Doc Hollywood', 'Bad Company', 'Mighty Aphrodite', 'Everyone Says I Love You', 'The Curse of the Jade Scorpion', and voice work on the likes of 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Pocahontas', 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'Spirited Away' and 'Hoodwinked'. Stiers had 167 Acting credits to his name, and eleven Soundtrack credits. He was also an avid fan of classical music being an Orchestra Conductor also and having conducted many orchestras during his time.
* Ken Dodd : Born 8th November 1927, died 11th March 2018, aged 90. English stand up comedian, singer and infrequent Actor, Ken Dodd's career spanned seven decades being described as 'the last great music hall entertainer'. His career launched in the mid-'50's and he continued working right up until the time of his death, health permitting. Mostly renowned for his quick fire one liner stand up comedy routine which he showcased on numerous television shows, special broadcasts and stage show tours around Britain, he was also a UK Chart topping singer with eighteen hit records, including 1965's Number One single 'Tears'. His dramatic roles included a stage production of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night', an appearance on 'Doctor Who', in Kenneth Branagh's 'Hamlet' and in a 1999 television adaptation of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Dodd was knighted by The Queen in the 2017 New Years Honours List, and two days before his death on 9th March he married his partner of forty years, Anne Jones.
* Katie Boyle : Born 29th May 1926, died 20th March 2018, aged 91. Born Caterina Irene Elena Maria Imperiali dei Principi di Francavilla in Florence, Tuscany, Italy to an Italian Marquis she relocated to England in 1946 and began a career in modelling, appearing in such publications as 'Vogue'. Her screen acting debut came in the 1950 British comedy film 'Old Mother Riley, Headmistress' and she worked regularly in a number of television productions and feature films through until the early '60's. These included 'The French, They Are a Funny Race', 'The Truth About Women', 'Not Wanted on Voyage', 'Intent to Kill' and 'First Love'. In the meantime there had been television series appearances on five episodes of 'The Royalty' and twelves episodes of 'Golden Girl'. During the '60's she was a regular on game show panels including 'What's My Line?' and 'Juke Box Jury' and she was the Presenter and Host of the 'Eurovision Song Contest' in 1960, 1963, 1968 and 1974. She also became a television Agony Aunt answering viewers questions to problems raised to the 'TV Times' weekly television publication. She also authored three books - 'Dear Katie' (tips, tricks and hints from her days as an Agony Aunt), 'What This Katie Did' (her autobiography), and 'Battersea Tales' (stories of rescues from Battersea Dogs Home of which she served as  a Committee Member for 25 years).
* Bill Maynard : Born 8th October 1928, died 30th March 2018, aged 89. English comedian and Actor, Maynard's career spanned seven decades across 73 screen acting credits including such films as 'Till Death Do Us Part', 'Carry On Loving', 'Carry On Henry VIII', 'Carry On At Your Convenience', 'Carry On Matron', 'Carry On Dick', 'Bless This House', 'Confessions of a Window Cleaner', 'Confessions of a Pop Performer', 'Confessions of a Driving Instructor', 'Confessions of a Summer Camp Councillor', 'Robin and Marion' and 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet'. His television appearances included the short-lived single series of 'The Life of Riley', 'Trinity Tales' and 'Paradise Island' and then 29 episodes as Selwyn Froggitt in 'Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt' and 'Selwyn' which he created, running from 1974 through until 1978. He then starred in twenty episodes of 'The Gaffer' in the early '80's, before perhaps his most remembered role as Claude Jeremiah Greengrass in 155 episodes across eight years through the '90's of popular '60's set Police crime drama comedy show 'Heartbeat', and his brief reprisal of the character across seven episodes on '60's set hospital drama series 'The Royal' in 2003.

This week there are just three new movies coming to an Odeon near you. We kick off with a highly praised horror offering starring a real life husband and wife team playing husband and wife to two young kind in a post-apocalyptic world where the slightest sound, can mean death, most gruesome. We then go to an American wilderness story of father and son battling against the elements to survive, before wrapping up with an Aussie doco of an acclaimed street artist and a candid insight into the ups and downs and the highs and lows of his life.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three 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.

'A QUIET PLACE' (Rated M) - is an American modern horror film Co-Written, Directed and starring John Krasinski that has already received much critical acclaim since its Premier at the annual South by Southwest Festival held in Austin, Texas on 9th March, before its US, UK and Australian release this week. Krasinski, perhaps best known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC hit sitcom 'The Office' is no stranger to the world of film and television acting having amassed so far 46 acting credits, as well as eleven Producer credits and four as Director and four as Screenwriter picking up six award wins and another 24 nominations along the way. Here he stars with his real wife Emily Blunt, in this film that cost US$17M to make.

The premise of the film is quite simple. A family of four living in a post-apocalyptic upstate New York community that has become a ghost town must fight for their survival without making a sound for fear of being eaten by lightning fast blind spidery creatures with an acute sense of hearing. Being blind, the only way these creatures can eat, is to locate their prey by sound. Mum Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt), Dad Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), deaf teenage daughter Regan Abbott (the actually deaf Millicent Simmonds) who communicates with her family via American Sign Language accounting for their survival when their friends and neighbours have all perished, and son Marcus Abbott (Noah Jupe) must navigate their lives in silence, for if they hear you, they hunt you! And all the while Evelyn is pregnant expecting their third child . . . hardly a recipe for silence that one!

'WALKING OUT' (Rated M) - this survival drama film is Written and Directed by Alex and Andrew Smith and based on the 1980 short story of the same name by David Quammen. The film Premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival way back in January 2017, before its US theatrical release in October 2017, and only now does it arrive on limited screens in Australia. In the meantime however, the film has garnered generally positive press. The film here centres around meek, mild and modern tech loving fourteen year old lad David (Josh Wiggins) who ventures deep into the Montana wilderness to visit his adventurous, outdoor loving and estranged father Cal (Matt Bomer). The pair then embark on a moose hunting trip, with Cal ordering his son to leave his beloved smartphone back at the house. Father and son struggle to form a connection, and needless to say things begin to go pear shaped for the pair very quickly as a result of a brutal encounter somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This forces the young still wet behind the ears lad to grow up very quickly, battle against the elements and survive to live another day with his father. Also starring Bill Pullman as Clyde, Cal's father seen in flashback. If you liked 'The Mountain Between Us', 'The Revenant', 'Wind River' or similar frozen landscape genre stories then this is for you.

'HAVE YOU SEEN THE LISTERS' (Rated M) - here this documentary film by Director Eddie Martin brings us a snapshot of the personal life and creative process of Australia's most highly regarded street artist - Anthony Lister, referred to in one publication as 'The Brissy Banksy'. From winning a 1999 Brisbane City Council competition to paint dozens of traffic signal control boxes in a blaze of colour and personality, to being hauled up in court fifteen years later by that same city council on graffiti related charges, this personal insight into highly sought after contemporary artist as he battles his own personal life challenges brought on by drugs, divorce and battles with the authorities is all on show in this candid account of his art, his family and his fatherhood.

With three new release films out 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-