* William Dale Wittliff was born on 21st January 1940 and died on 9th June 2019, aged 79. He was an American Screenwriter, Producer, one time Director, Author and Photographer with fifteen writing credits to his name, and eleven as Producer. His film writing credits included 'The Black Stallion', 'Raggedy Man', 'Barbarosa', 'Country', 'Red Headed Stranger' (which he also Directed), 'The Cowboy Way', 'Legends of the Fall', 'The Perfect Storm' and most recently 2013's 'A Night in Old Mexico'. During his career he was honoured with four award wins, three further nominations, in 1996 he was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award, and in 2001, Wittliff was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.
* Sylvia Miles - born 9th September 1924 and died on 12th June 2019, aged 94. She was an American Actress who began her stage career back in 1947 and her film and television career in 1954. Miles had 47 acting credits to her name including the likes of 'Murder, Inc' in 1960 - her big screen debut, followed up by 'Midnight Cowboy', 'The Last Movie', 'Farewell, My Lovely', '92 in the Shade', 'The Sentinel', 'Evil Under the Sun', 'Critical Condition', 'Wall Street' and its sequel 'Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps', 'Crossing Delancey', 'She-Devil', 'Go Go Tales', and 'Japanese Borscht' which was filming at the time of her death. She was the recipient of two award wins and two other nominations, both Academy Awards for her supporting roles in 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Farewell, My Lovely'.
* Franco Zeffirelli - born Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli on 12th February 1923 and died 15th June 2019, aged 96. He was an Italian Director, Writer and Production Designer of film, television and opera with 25 film and TV Directing credits to his name, fifteen as Writer, and twenty as Production Designer, in addition to his numerous credits for theatrical productions. His 1967 Directorial debut with 'The Taming of the Shrew' starring the pairing of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton remains to this day the best known adaptation of the Shakespeare play. The following year in 1968 he adapted another Shakespeare play 'Romeo & Juliet' for the big screen, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination, and which still holds up today. He followed this up with two religious offerings - 'Brother Sun, Sister Moon' about the life of St. Francis of Assisi in 1972, and then in 1977 the television mini-series 'Jesus of Nazareth' with Robert Powell in the lead role and an all star cast. He followed this up with the mainstream 'The Champ' with Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway and after that 'Endless Love' with Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt. His next and final Academy Award nod came in 1983 with his big screen adaptation of the classic opera 'La Traviata' with Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas. Next came another operatic adaptation with 'Otello' in 1986 before turning attention back to Shakespeare with 'Hamlet' starring Mel Gibson in the title role with Glenn Close, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Dillane, Alan Bates and Ian Holm. His last three big screen productions came with 'Jane Eyre' in 1996, 'Tea with Mussolini' in 1999 and 'Callas Forever' in 2002. All up Zeffirelli had nineteen award wins and another fourteen nominations to his name including two Academy Award nods, one Golden Globe nomination, two Primetime Emmy wins, one BAFTA win and another four BAFTA nods. He also served as a Senator from 1994 till 2001 for the Italian centre-right Forza Italia party, and in 2004 he received an honorary British knighthood.
* Bill Colllins was born William Roderick Collins on 4th December 1934 and died on 20th June 2019 aged 84. He was an Australian film critic and film historian, radio and television presenter, journalist, author and lecturer best known for presenting Hollywood films on television in Australia. He specialised in the Classical Hollywood cinema and was well known for his association with televisions Network 10, presenting 'Bill Collins' Golden Years of Hollywood' for fifteen years, and later with Foxtel, presenting movies on the cable channel FOX Classics from 1995 to 2018. He was widely recognised in Australia for his passionate enthusiasm for films, and his profile allowed him to meet and become acquainted with a range of film makers from the 'Golden Age of Hollywood'. As well as his TV work, he lectured at the University of Sydney on film and allied topics, and in 1987, he published a book of film reviews and essays, 'Bill Collins Presents "The Golden Years of Hollywood"'. In 1987, Collins was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to film and television.
* Bryan Marshall - born 19th May 1938 and died 25th June 2019, aged 81. He was an English Actor whose career launched in the mid-'60's with uncredited roles in films 'Rasputin the Mad Monk' and 'Alfie' before his first credited big screen role in 1966 'The Witches'. His subsequent feature film outings included 'Quatermass and the Pit', 'The Tamarind Seed', 'The Spy Who Loved Me', 'The Long Good Friday', 'BMX Bandits', 'The Man from Snowy River II', 'The Punisher', 'Country Life' and 'Selkie'. His small screen credits over the years are numerous but include 'The Forsyte Saga', 'Vanity Fair', 'Z Cars', 'The Saint', 'Warship', 'Rooms', 'Out', 'Prisoner', 'Neighbours', 'Embassy', 'Water Rats', 'Home and Away' and 'All Saints'. In 1983 Marshall emigrated to Australia where he continued to work extensively in Australian film and TV productions, splitting his time between Australia and his native England. In total he had 126 Acting credits to his name.
* Max Wright - born George Edward Maxwell Wright on 2nd August 1943, died 26th June 2019, aged 75. He was an American Actor of film, television and stage, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Willie Tanner on the hit sitcom 'ALF' which ran for 102 episodes between 1986 and 1990. His big screen credits included 'All That Jazz', 'Reds', 'The Sting II', ''Soul Man', 'The Shadow', 'Grumpier Old Men', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Snow Falling on Cedars'. His television roles over the years took in the likes of 'Hart to Hart', 'WKRP in Cincinnati', 'Taxi', 'Cheers', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Dudley', 'Friends', 'Mad About You', and on 49 episodes of 'The Norm Show'. All up Wright had 66 acting credits to his name.This week we have just three new release films coming to an Odeon near you. We launch with yet another instalment in the MCU and the follow up to a successful reboot of this Superhero franchise from 2017, that sees our favourite webslinger taking a European vacation with his school mates but called back into the line of duty to help thwart a group of four otherworldly aliens with superpowers of their own intent of destroying our humble little world. We then move to a biographical documentary charting the life and times of an Australian rock icon who sadly passed away in 1997 but who's legacy still lives on today. And wrapping up the weeks three new movies we have an Argentinian foreign language film about a couple who become new found empty nesters when their son moves away from home to study abroad, and their decision consequently to consciously uncouple themselves from each other after twenty+ years of marriage.
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.
'SPIDER-MAN : FAR FROM HOME' (Rated M) - here this twenty third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a direct sequel to 2017's 'Spider-Man : Homecoming' and follows on shortly after the events of 'Avengers : Endgame'. Directed once again by Jon Watts this film had a budget of US$160M, compared to 'Homecoming' which had a budget of US$175M and grossed worldwide US$880M, and is released in the US this week too, one day after its Australian release earlier this week on Monday 1st July.
'MYSTIFY : MICHAEL HUTCHENCE' (Rated M) - is a biographical documentary charting the life and times of INXS frontman and lyricist and occasional actor Michael Hutchence. Here Australian Director, Screenwriter and Co-Producer Richard Lowenstein, who incidentally, Directed many of both INXS and Michael's music videos and the 1986 feature film, 'Dogs in Space', in which Michael played the lead, recounts the musicians life which ended so tragically in Sydney on 22nd November 1997. A complex and shy man who spent the majority of his life under the public gaze, rarely revealing his true nature to anyone except his very close friends and family. Combining rarely seen archival footage and insights from Hutchence himself, his friends, family, lovers and colleagues portray his life from his fractured family background to the pinnacle of rock stardom and into the depths of despair following a freak accident in Copenhagen in 1992 which resulted in almost a complete loss of the sense of smell and significant loss of taste, seriously impacting his ability to deal with his unravelling personal and professional life. A must see for anyone with the remotest interest in this enigmatic Australian musician whose twenty year career with INXS brought him worldwide stardom and record sales in excess of sixty million.
'AN UNEXPECTED LOVE' (Rated M) - this Argentinian foreign language film took the local Box Office by storm when it was released in its native country back in August 2018. Written, Produced and Directed by Juan Vera the film here centres around Ana (Mercedes Moran) and her husband Marco (Ricardo Darin), who arrive at the airport to farewell their son Luciano, who is leaving his Argentinian homeland to study in Spain. They are satisfied that they have both done well as parents. However, his departure leaves a gaping hole in their everyday lives, and after more than twenty years of marriage, both reluctantly come to admit that their feelings for each other have moved somewhat. So as if it were one last project together, Ana and Marco decide to ‘consciously uncouple’, and begin to explore the surprising and sometimes wonderful world of the newly-single, with hilarious and unexpected consequences.With three new release movies 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-
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