What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th July 2018.

With the release of the Dwayne Johnson starring disaster epic feature flick 'Skyscraper' last week that cost the best part of US$130M to bring to the big screen and has so far received mixed Critical Reviews, as well a being widely likened to a mash up of 'Die Hard' meets 'The Towering Inferno' got me to thinking about classic '70's disaster movies, of which 'The Towering Inferno' would rank right up there amongst the best of 'em. Here's a trip down memory lane then to recount that genre that largely came into its own in the '70's and has barely looked back since. In date of release order, here are the disaster epic milestone's of the '70's, according to this humble Critic.

* 'Airport' (1970) - Directed by George Seaton, starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin and George Kennedy. Made for just over US$10M the film grossed over US$100M, won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Helen Hayes plus nine other nominations amidst a total haul of four award wins and another nineteen nominations. The plot surrounds a bomber aboard an aeroplane, an airport snowed in and various emotional and personal problems faced by the airline crew and some of its select passengers. The film spawned numerous sequels, including the comedy classic 'Airplane'.
* 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972) - Directed by Ronald Neame and staring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowell, Red Buttons, Leslie Nielsen, Shelley Winters and Stella Stevens. Made for less than US$5M the film grossed US$127M, won two Academy Awards and was nominated in seven other categories from a total haul of five award wins and another thirteen nods. The film centres around the S.S. Poseidon, a luxury liner that capsizes mid ocean when struck by a tsunami and a group of surviving passengers struggling to survive and escape when the ship turns upside down with only their wits to save them. The film saw a sequel in 1979 and a remake in 2006.
* 'The Towering Inferno' (1974) - Directed by John Guillermin and starring Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughan, Robert Wagner and Dabney Coleman. The film cost US$14M to make and grossed close to US$160M, picking up three Academy Award wins plus five other nominations from a total awards haul of twelve wins and another thirteen nominations. The film tells the story of a newly completed skyscraper, the world tallest at the time, and how the construction company took short cuts with the architects plans too save money. These short cuts lead to a fire which breaks out and rapidly takes hold that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it. This film inspired 'Skyscraper'.
* 'Earthquake' (1974) - Directed by Mark Robson and starring Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree, Walter Matthau, Victoria Principal, Ava Gardner and Genevieve Bujold. Made for US$7M the film grossed US$85M, and collected two Academy Awards and three other nominations form a total haul of three award wins and seven other nominations. This film, as the name implies, centres on an earthquake of colossal magnitude that hits Los Angeles, and the aftermath of various interconnected people all struggling to survive. This film inspired 'San Andreas'.
* 'The Swarm' (1978) - this disaster horror offering was Directed by Irwin Allen and stars Michael Caine, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Henry Fonda, Slim Pickens, Fred MacMurray, Ben Johnson, Katherine Ross, Olivia de Havilland and Lee Grant. The film cost US$21M to make and grossed just about one-third of that sum and has been hailed as one of the worst movies of all time - so bad it's good in fact! The film tells the story of a rampant swarm of killer bees that have made their way to Texas from Africa via South America. The said pesky bees in question have a deadly venom and attack randomly and without reason. It rests with a scientist type and the military might of Uncle Sam to destroy the bees before they destroy us.
* 'Meteor' (1979) - Directed by Ronald Name and starring Sean Connery, Karl Malden, Henry Fonda, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard, Richard Dysart and Natalie Wood, the film cost US$16M to make and just about recovered that sum and was poorly received by Critics. Here scientists discover an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, who in turn struggle with Cold War politics in their efforts to destroy the asteroid and prevent a disaster of Earth shattering consequence from occurring. This film inspired 'Armageddon' and 'Deep Impact'.
* 'The China Syndrome' (1979) - Directed by James Bridges and Produced and starring Michael Douglas, Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Peter Donat and Wilfred Brimley, the film cost US$6M to make, grossed US$52M and picked up seven award wins and another 15 monitions including four Oscar nods, five Golden Globe nods, two BAFTA wins for Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda and two other nominations, and was hailed a success by Critics. This film's story concerns a news reporter and her cameraman who are unintentional witnesses to a SCRAM incident, an emergency core shutdown procedure at a nuclear power plant in California. The crew helps prevent a disaster, but the plant supervisor begins to fear that the plant is contravening safety standards, and tries desperately to bring it to the attention of the public, believing that another such incident will result in an atomic melt down.

Turning attention to this weeks latest release movies of which there are three coming to an Odeon near you, these are categorised as two sequels and a remake. We kick off with the sequel to the big screen adaptation of a popular 80's small screen television series in which a one man vigilante army with 'a particular set of skills' seeks his very own brand of justice on those who would do wrong on the helpless and innocent. We then turn to a song and dance number set in the idyllic Greek isles that is another sequel to a massively popular first instalment ten years ago based on the back catalogue of songs put out by one of the world's most popular groups that were at the height of their fame in the '70's and '80's, but have since endured to be as popular now as they were back then. And then we wrap up with a remake of another '80's comedy featuring back then a real life couple who well & truly fall overboard for each other, although one is clueless as to the how and why and is being played along by the other.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies 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 most welcome 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 coming week.

'THE EQUALISER 2' (Rated MA15+) - in 2014 Antoine Fuqua Directed the first big screen adaptation of the popular '80's TV series 'The Equalizer' with Denzel Washington portraying the one man army out of retirement vigilante Robert McCall (played by Edward Woodward in the television series of the same name). That film cost US$73M to make and grossed US$193M at the global Box Office, and even before its release this sequel had already been announced.

In this follow on offering Denzel Washington once again portrays Robert McCall who wakes up one day to learn that one of his long term friends and former colleague Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) has been murdered. Armed with a very particular set of skills, McCall embarks on a journey of revenge dishing out his own brand of vigilante justice to the crims who perpetrated the crime, and any other miscreants who happen to get in the way. Also starring Pedro Pascal as a former CIA partner of McCall's, and Bill Pullman as the husband to the murdered Susan Plummer. The film's release was pushed back form a September 2017 scheduled date, eventually ending up at this mid-July date for release in the US this week also.

'MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN' (Rated PG) : ten years ago, 'Mamma Mia' the song and dance musical based on the hugely popular stage show of the same name based on a whole collection of ABBA songs from yesteryear took a staggering US$616M off the back of a US$52M Budget. Hardly any surprise then that in 2018 it's time to launch a sequel to an eagerly awaiting audience of die hard ABBA fans the world over. This time Directed and Written for the Screen by Ol Parker sees the familiar cast members return reprising their roles together with a few new additions. Set ten years after the events of the first film and back on the Greek island of Kalokairi, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) is pregnant expecting Sky's (Dominic Cooper) child while running the villa for her mother, Donna Sheridan-Carmichael (Meryl Streep). Her relationship with Sky has been far from ideal and she expresses self doubt about bringing up a child without her mother around. However, help is at hand but with Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) to guide and advise her, but in so doing Sophie will find out more of Donna's past - how she fronted 'The Dynamos', came to set up her villa on the island from scratch, met each one of Sophie’s dads Harry Bright, Sam Carmichael and Bill Anderson (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard respectively), and raised a daughter as a single Mum without a mother to guide her. And to cap it all an unexpected visit from someone she had never met: her grandmother, Ruby Sheridan (Cher). Also starring Andy Garcia, Lily James and Celia Imrie, this film cost US$70M to bring to the big screen, and is released in the US and UK this week too.

'OVERBOARD' (Rated PG) - thirty one years ago way back in 1987, real life partners in love and life Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell under the Directing stewardship of Garry Marshall released the original film upon which this remake is based. That film cost US$22M to make and recovered that sum and then some, and now in 2018 we have that same story that has been dusted off, repolished and presented in a nice little gift box for an unknowing audience. This time around Rob Greenberg Directs and he also Co-Wrote the Screenplay, but put out this movie for less than half the sum of its original. At $12M the film has so far grossed US$87M and has received mixed Critical feedback for really adding nothing new to the already tried and tested storyline which centres around Kate Sullivan (Anna Faris) who is a single, working-class Mum of three who's hired to clean a luxury yacht that is owned by Leonardo Montenegro (Eugenio Derbez) a selfish, spoiled and very rich Mexican playboy. After firing Kate for some petty misdemeanour, Leonardo falls off the boat and wakes up with no recollection of who he is. To get payback and seizing the opportunity, Kate rocks up to the hospital and convinces the confused amnesiac that they are in fact husband and wife. As Leonardo attempts to realign his life to one of manual labour and his new found family, Kate starts to ponder just how long she can maintain the ruse with her new fake husband. Also starring Eva Longoria and John Hannah.

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. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-