* Richard Easton - born John Richard Easton on 22nd March 1933, died 2nd December 2019, aged 86. Easton was a Canadian Actor of stage, television and film who amassed 58 acting credits to his name in a career spanning eight decades. He got his first film break in the TV movie 'Both Ends Meet' in 1954 and throughout the remaining '50's, '60's and up until the mid-'70's stuck to roles on the small screen in numerous television shows and series and made for TV movies. His first big screen role came in 1976 in 'Feelings', followed by the likes of 'Young Warriors' in 1983 with Ernest Borgnine and Richard Roundtree, then 'Henry V' in 1989 Directed and starring Kenneth Branagh, 'Dead Again' in 1991 once again Directed and starring Kenneth Branagh with Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia and Robin Williams, 'Finding Forrester' in 2000 Directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Connery, and 2008's 'Revolutionary Road' Directed by Sam Mendes and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet which was to be his last big screen outing. In the meantime, there were appearances on the likes of 'The Brothers' in which Easton had a lead role over 85 episodes from its 92 aired between 1972 and 1976, on seven episodes of 'Chintz' in 1981, 'L.A. Law', 'Frasier', as Benjamin Franklin in a mini-series documentary of the same name in 2002, 'Law & Order : SVU', and on a single episode of 'Boardwalk Empire' in 2011, amongst many others over the years.
* Leonard Goldberg - born 24th January 1934, died 4th December 2019, aged 85. Goldberg was an American film and television Producer, who had 84 big and small screen production credits to his name spanning from 1972 right up to the present day. He launched his own production company, Panda Productions (formerly Mandy Films) and served as head of programming for ABC, was President of 20th Century Fox and the executive producer of the CBS series 'Blue Bloods'. As a Producer, he was responsible for producing several TV movies including the Peabody Award winning 'Brian's Song' in 1971and 'The Boy in the Plastic Bubble' in 1976 which helped to launch John Travolta's film career. He also produced a string of hit television series while in partnership with Aaron Spelling, the best-known of which would have been 'The Rookies', 'S.W.A.T.', 'Charlie's Angels', 'Hart to Hart', 'Starsky & Hutch', 'Fantasy Island' and 'T.J. Hooker' As President of 20th Century Fox, during which time the studio produced such films as 'Broadcast News', 'Big', 'Die Hard', 'Wall Street' and 'Working Girl' and then under his own name, he produced the successful films 'WarGames', 'Sleeping with the Enemy', 'Double Jeopardy', the 'Charlie's Angels' films series and recently 'Unknown' with Liam Neeson.
* Robert Walker Jnr. - born 15th April 1940, died 5th December 2019, aged 79. Walker was the son of American Actor Robert Walker who lived from 1918 until his untimely death in 1951. Walker Jnr. was particularly active in television series and film throughout the '60's and '70's but became less so during the '80's and even more so thereafter. His first big screen role came in 1963 in 'The Hook' with Kirk Douglas, and this was followed up over the years by the likes of 'Ensign Pulver' with Burl Ives and Walter Matthau, 'The Happening' with Anthony Quinn, 'The War Wagon' with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, 'Eve' with Herbert Lom and Christoper Lee, 'Easy Rider' with Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, 'Young Billy Young' with Robert Mitchum, 'Road to Salina', 'Beware! The Blob', 'Hex', 'Gone with the West' with James Caan, 'Evil Town', 'The Devonsville Terror' and 'Hambone and Hillie' with Lillian Gish closing out his career in 1983 until he re-emerged in 2018 in 'Beyond the Darkness'. In the meantime there were appearances on such TV shows as 'Star Trek', 'Time Tunnel', 'Bonanza', 'The Invaders', 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Columbo', 'CHiPs', 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'L.A. Law'.
* Ron Leibman - born 11th October 1937, died 6th December 2019, aged 82. Leibman was an American Actor of the theatre, television and cinema who amassed 52 acting credits to his name in a career that launched in 1964 on a single episode of the long running television show 'The Edge of Night'. His film debut came in 1970 in 'Where's Poppa?' with George Segal, followed up in 1972 with 'The Hot Rock' with Robert Redford and George Segal again, 'Slaughterhouse-Five', 'Your Three Minutes Are Up' with Beau Bridges, 'Norma Rae' with Sally Field and Beau Bridges again, 'Zorro, The Gay Blade' with George Hamilton, 'Phar Lap' with Tom Burlinson, 'Romantic Comedy' with Dudley Moore, 'Door to Door' with William H. Macy, 'Rhinestone' with Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton, 'Night Falls on Manhattan' with Andy Garcia and Richard Dreyfuss, 'Just the Ticket' with Andy Garcia again, 'Personal Velocity', 'Dummy' with Adrien Brody, 'Auto Focus' with Willem Dafoe and Greg Kinnear, 'Garden State' Directed and starring Zach Braff and 'A Little Help' with Jenna Fischer and Chris O'Donnel was to be his last film role in 2010. He also starred in numerous made for television movies over the years and TV series including on 23 episodes on 'Kaz' for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and then there was 'Murder, She Wrote', thirteen episodes on 'Pacific Station', 21 episodes on 'Central Park West', four episodes on 'Friends', thirteen on 'Holding the Baby', four on 'Law & Order : SVU', three on 'The Sopranos' and nine episodes voicing Ron Cadillac on 'Archer'.
* Rene Auberjonois - born 1st June 1940, died 8th December 2019, aged 79. Auberjonois was an American Actor, of film, television and theatre was had 228 acting credits to his name in a career spanning seven decades from his first uncredited role in the feature film 'Lilith' in 1964 right up to the present day. He got his big break playing Father John Mulcahy in 1970's 'M*A*S*H' followed up over the years by the likes of 'Brewster McCloud', 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller', 'The Hindenberg', 'The Big Bus', 1976's 'King Kong' remake, 'Eyes of Laura Mars', 'Walker', 'The Player', 'The Ballad of Little Jo', 'Batman Forever', 'Inspector Gadget', 'The Patriot', 'Eulogy', with 'The Circuit', 'Windows of the World' and 'Raising Buchanan' all released in 2019, and 'First Cow' set for release in early 2020 and 'Cortex' currently in Post-Production. In between time there were numerous television appearances and regular work on recurring shows including 'Rhoda', 'The Bionic Woman', 'Starsky and Hutch', 'The Rockford Files', 'Wonder Woman', 'Hart to Hart', 'Charlie's Angels', on 135 episodes of 'Benson', as Odo on 173 episodes of 'Star Trek : Deep Space Nine', then 'Judging Amy', 'The Practice', on 71 episodes of 'Boston Legal', followed by 'Criminal Minds', 'Grey's Anatomy', 'NCIS', 'The Good Wife' and 'Madam Secretary'. In between time he also lent his considerable voice talents to numerous video games, book narrations and animated TV series such as 'The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang', 'Jonny Quest', 'Snorks', 'The Further Adventures of SuperTed', 'The Pirates of Dark Water', 'Mighty Max', 'The Savage Dragon', 'Richie Rich', 'The Legend of Tarzan', 'Justice League', 'Xiaolin Showdown', 'Xyber 9 : New Dawn', 'Archer', 'Pound Puppies' and 'Ben 10 : Omniverse'. Auberjonois won three awards and was nominated another nine times including for two Primetime Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. 
* Danny Aiello - born 20th June 1933, died 12th December 2019, aged 86. Aiello was an American Actor who boasted 105 acting credits to his name during a career that began 1973 and lasted right up until the present day. His earliest film role came in 1973 alongside Robert De Niro in 'Bang the Drum Slowly' followed up in the ensuing years in such notable films as 'The Godfather Part II', 'Bloodbrothers' with Richard Gere, 'Fort Apache, The Bronx' with Paul Newman, 'Once Upon a Time in America' with Robert De Niro again, 'Broadway Danny Rose', 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' and 'Radio Days' all Directed by Woody Allen, 'Moonstruck' with Cher, 'Do the Right Thing', 'Harlem Nights', 'Jacob's Ladder', 'Hudson Hawk' with Bruce Willis, 'Ruby', 'Leon : The Professional', 'Pret-a-Porter', 'City Hall' with Al Pacino, '2 Days in the Valley', 'Off Key', 'Lucky Number Slevin' with Bruce Willis again right up to 'The Last Big Save' and 'Making a Deal with the Devil' released earlier in 2019, and 'One Moment' and the short film 'Hereafter Musical' in Post-Production and 'The Italy Boys' in Pre-Production. In the meantime there were either lead or supporting roles on TV series including fourteen episodes on 'Lady Blue', fourteen episodes on 'Dellaventura', mini-series 'The Last Don' and its follow up 'The Last Don II'. Aiello scored seven award wins and another six nominations from around the awards and festival circuit including an Oscar and a Golden Globe nod for Best Supporting Actor on Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing'. Aiello could also boast a successful singing career having recorded a number of albums and sang too on several of his movies, and, he also starred in several Broadway and Off-Broadway plays over the years. In 2014, Aiello published his autobiography, 'I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else: My Life on the Street, on the Stage, and in the Movies'.
* Nicky Henson - born Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson on 12th May 1945 and died on 15th December 2019, aged 74. Henson was a British Actor whose film and television acting career spanned 108 screen credits over six decades from 1961 up to 2018. He gained his first small screen role on an episode of TV's 'The Avengers' in 1961 and followed this up with a bit part in his debut feature film - 1964's 'Father Came Too!' Over the following years his more notable big screen roles included 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush' in 1968, '30 Is A Dangerous Age, Cynthia' also in 1968 and with Dudley Moore, 'Withchfinder General' with Vincent Price, 'Mosquito Squadron' with David McCallum, 1970's 'There's a Girl in My Soup' with Peter Sellers, 'Vampira' in 1974 with David Niven, 'No. 1 of the Secret Service', 'Parting Shots' with Ben Kingsley, 'Vera Drake' with Imelda Staunton, 'Syriana' with George Clooney, 'Blitz' with Jason Statham, 'We Still Kill the Old Way' in 2014 and its sequel 'We Still Steal the Old Way' in 2016, 'Narcropolis', 'Gozo', 'The Holly Kane Experiment' and 'Tango One' released in 2018 and his last film role. In between time there were numerous small screen roles including 'Fawlty Towers', 'Minder', mini-series 'Seagull Island', and 'That's the Way the Money Goes', 'Inspector Morse', 'Lovejoy', twelve episodes on 'Shine On Harvey Moon', 'Heartbeat', 36 episodes on 'Eastenders', and then 'The Bill' and 'Downton Abbey'.
* Claudine Auger - born Claudine Oger on 26th April 1941 and died 18th December 2019, aged 78. Auger was a French Actress who amassed eighty film and television credits in a career that spanned from her first uncredited role in 1958's 'Christine' film through to her final role in 1997's 'Le Rouge et Le Noir'. In the meantime, she starred in such films as 'In the French Style' with Jean Seberg, the Bond movie 'Thunderball' in 1965 opposite Sean Connery as 'Bond Girl' Dominique 'Domino' Derval, 1966's 'Triple Cross' with Christoper Plummer, 1968's 'Anyone Can Play' with Ursula Andress, 'The Bastard' that same year with Rita Hayworth, 'Flic Story' in 1975 with Jean-Louis Trintignant, 'The Bermuda Triangle' in 1978 with John Huston, 'Lovers and Liras' in 1979 with Goldie Hawn, 'Black Jack' in 1981 with Peter Cushing, 'The Repenter' in 1985 with Franco Nero, and 'Salt on Our Skin' in 1992 with Greta Scacchi.
* Tony Britton - born Anthony Edward Lowry Britton on 9th June 1924, and died on 22nd December 2019, aged 95. Britton was an English Actor of stage, television and film who served in the Army during WWII and he also worked as a real estate agent and in an aircraft factory. He joined an amateur dramatics group in Weston-super-Mare and then turned professional, appearing on stage at the Old Vic and with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His career took in 79 Acting credits spanning from two uncredited roles in the 1950 films 'Waterfront' and 'Cage of Gold' through until his final screen role in 2012's 'Run for Your Wife'. His first big screen credited role came in 1952's 'Salute the Toff' and by 1957 he scored top billing in 'The Birthday Present' opposite Sylvia Syms. Following this there were the likes of 'Operations Amsterdam', 'Suspect', 'Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow', 'There's a Girl in My Soup', 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', 1973's 'The Day of the Jackal' and 'Nightwatch', 'The People that Time Forgot' and 'Agatha'. His more notable small screen appearances included 'The Saint', 'Special Branch', 'Father, Dear Father', ' . . . And Mother Makes Five', 'The Nearly Man' for which he was nominated for a BAFTA in 1976 and won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor, 48 episodes on 'Robin's Nest', 39 episodes on 'Don't Wait Up', 'Don't Tell Father', the mini-series 'The Way We Live Now', and then 'Doctors', 'The Royal' and 'Holby City' most recently. 
* David Foster - was born sometime in 1929 and died 23rd December 2019, aged 90. Foster was an American film Producer who amassed thirty-one production credits to his name in a career that began with 1971's 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller' and in the subsequent five decades took in the likes of 'The Getaway' in 1972 with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw and its 1994 remake with Alex Baldwin and Kim Basinger, 1975's 'The Drowning Pool' with Paul Newman, 1982's 'The Thing' with Kurt Russell and its 2011 remake with Joel Edgerton, 1985's 'The Mean Season' also with Kurt Russell, 1986's 'Short Circuit' and its 1988 follow-up 'Short Circuit 2', 1994's 'The River Wild' with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon, 1998's 'The Mask of Zorro' with Antonio Banderas, 2002's 'Collateral Damage' with Arnold Schwarzenegger and also that same year 'Hart's War' with Bruce Willis, 2003's 'The Core' with Aaron Eckhart, 2005's 'The Fog' and he closed out his career in 2012 with the short film 'Good Knight'.
* Sue Lyon - born Suellyn Lyon on 10th July 1946 and died 26th December 2019, aged 73. Lyon was American Actress who broke into the entertainment business at the age of thirteen as a model, and thereafter rose to prominence in the lead role in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film 'Lolita' for which she won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. This was followed up by such film as 'The Night of the Iguana' in 1964 with Richard Burton and Ava Gardner, '7 Women' in 1966 with Anne Bancroft, 'Tony Rome' in 1967 with Frank Sinatra and 'The Flim-Flam Man' that same year with George C. Scott. 1971 saw the semi-biographical film 'Ever Knievel' with George Hamilton playing the motorcycle daredevil, with 'Crash!', 'End of the World,' 'The Astral Factor' and 1980's 'Alligator' with Robert Forster being her last screen role. In the meantime there were several television series appearances including 'The Virginian', 'Police Story' and 'Fantasy Island'. Lyon was married five times, with each of her marriages ending in divorce.
* Jack Garfein - born 2nd July 1930, and died 30th December 2019, aged 89. Garfein was an American film and theatre Director, Writer, Producer, Teacher and key figure of the Actor Studio for forty years. He was one of the most experienced teachers of Method Acting. He was Czechoslovakian-born and survived imprisonment in the Auschwitz concentration camp during WW2 and came to the US aged fifteen. After a few years of college, he became a stage Actor, then a Director. After his Broadway Directorial debut in 1953, he joined the Actors Studio, and married one of his fellow students, Carroll Baker. Although Garfein directed a number of TV shows and numerous Broadway plays, his film output was minimal, with only 'The Strange One' in 1957 and 'Something Wild' in 1961. He played himself in 2009's 'An Organisation of Dreams', in 2017's 'A Master Class with Jack Garfein' and 'The Wild One' which was still filming at the time of his death. As a Director and an acting teacher, Gerfein actively participated in the development of the Actors Studio work and collaborated with famous filmmakers such as Elia Kazan, John Ford, and George Stevens. He was a teacher to Actors Sissy Spacek, Ron Perlman and Bruce Dern, among others. He Directed Shelley Winters, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Elaine Stritch and discovered Ben Gazzara, Steve McQueen, George Peppard and Bruce Dern and gave a young James Dean his first acting role in the Actors Studio production of 'End as a Man'. He wrote 'Life and Acting - Techniques for the Actor' published in 2010.Turning to this week we have five new release films to tempt you out to your local Odeon, and we launch with an epic First World War film about two young soldiers tasked with delivering a key message on foot across enemy lines in order to save the lives of countless fellow soldiers from almost certain death. This is followed by an Australian film charting the short life of one of this country's most infamous younger sons who spent two years on the run before being gunned down by Police and hanged in 1880. Next up is an action comedy featuring a hardened cop who out of necessity must buddy up with a nine year old girl for fear of having his cover blown and gets way more than he bargained for. Then we have a documentary about a couple living on the outskirts of LA who buy themselves a sustainable farm and over the course of five years charts their successes and failures, their highs and lows in making a go of it, and ultimately succeeding in spite of themselves. And we close out the week with a British stop motion animation film about a certain sheep whom we have seen before and his flock who befriend an alien who strive to return said alien to its home before being discovered by the authorities.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five 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 week ahead.
'1917' (Rated MA15+) - is a First World War film Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Sam Mendes, based on a 'fragment' of an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, who was a Trinidad and Tobago novelist and short-story writer who lived from 1897 until 1991 and who served in the 1st Rifle Brigade during WWI and fought for two years in Flanders, along the Belgian Front, and was awarded a Military Medal for distinguishing himself on the battlefield. Sam Mendes is of course the highly acclaimed English Director of film and stage who previous film making credits include 'American Beauty', 'Road to Perdition', 'Jarhead', 'Revolutionary Road', and the two most recent Bond releases 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre'. This film was released in the US on Christmas Day, and in Australia and the UK this week, has received widespread critical acclaim, has so far raked up 48 awards wins and another 146 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit, and cost US$90M to make.
At the height of the First World War during Spring 1917 in northern France, two young British soldiers, Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) and Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), are given a seemingly impossible mission by General Erinmore (Colin Firth) to deliver a message which will warn of an ambush during one of the skirmishes soon after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich. The two young soldiers must race against time, crossing enemy territory to deliver the warning and keep a British battalion of some sixteen hundred men, which includes Blake's own brother Lieutenant Blake (Richard Madden), from walking into a deadly trap. The pair must give their all to accomplish their mission on time. Also starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Daniel Mays, Jamie Parker and Adrian Scarborough. The film is lensed by the multi-award winning and nominated Roger Deakins and scored by the equally multi award winning and nominated Thomas Newman.
'THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG' (Rated MA15+) - is based upon the 2000 novel of the same name by Peter Carey. Kurzel's previous Directing credits include 'Snowtown', 'The Turning', 'Macbeth' and 'Assassin's Creed' most recently. With its World Premier screening at TIFF back in September last year, the film gets its cinema release this week in Australia, is released in the UK in late February, streams to Stan in Australia from late January and no release date has yet been scheduled for the US. Many films have captured the life and times of Ned Kelly, but this one seeks to tell the story from the famed bushranger and outlaws own viewpoint. Kelly has had more written about him than any other Australian and is the subject of numerous works in the arts. He lived from 1854 until 1880 and died following a shoot out with Police in Glenrowan in country Victoria, when he was hanged in Old Melbourne Gaol for murder, assault, theft and armed robbery. Kelly has since become a cultural icon, of sorts. The film stars an ensemble cast including George MacKay as Ned Kelly, Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult, Essie Davis, Charlie Hunham and Claudia Karvan.
'MY SPY' (Rated M) - here we have an American action comedy offering Directed by Peter Segal whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'Anger Management', '50 First Dates', 'The Longest Yard', 'Get Smart', 'Grudge Match' and 'Second Act' more recently. The story line here centres around JJ (Dave Bautista) a hardened CIA operative who has been demoted and finds himself at the mercy of a precocious nine year old girl, named Sophie (Chloe Coleman) where he has been sent undercover begrudgingly to surveil her family. When Sophie discovers hidden cameras in her apartment she uses her tech savviness to locate where the surveillance operation is based. In exchange for not blowing JJ's cover which she has recorded, Sophie convinces him to spend time with her and teach her to be a spy. Despite his reluctance JJ finds he is no match for Sophie's disarming charm, wit and smarts. Also staring Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal and Parisa Fitz-Henley. Released in the US this week too.
'THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM' (Rated PG) - this American documentary film is Directed by Emmy Award Winning Director John Chester. The film chronicles the life of married couple John (yes the Director, Co-Producer, Co-Writer, Co-Cinematographer and star) and Molly Chester as they acquire and establish themselves over an eight year period on Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California, and build, cultivate and experience the highs and lows of their regenerative sustainable 200 acre farm that they started in 2011, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The film saw its World Premier screening at the August 2018 Telluride Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival and January 2019's Sundance Film Festival, and went on general release in the US in May 2019, and only now does it get a limited showing in Australia. With a Box Office take so far of about US$5M, the film has generated generally positive Reviews.
'A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE : FARMAGEDDON' (Rated G) - this British stop-motion animated science fiction comedy film is Produced by Aardman Animations, is Directed by Will Becher and Richard Phelan in their Directing debuts, is the stand-alone sequel to 2015's 'Shaun the Sheep Movie' and is based on the claymation television series 'Shaun the Sheep', which in turn is based on the 1995 film 'A Close Shave' created by Nick Park. The film stars Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Kate Harbour and Rich Webber reprising their roles and lending their voices from the series and the previous film. Here, Shaun and the flock encounter a cute alien named Lu-La (Amalia Vitale) with extraordinary powers, who crash lands near Mossy Bottom Farm. They have to find a way to return her home in order to prevent her falling into the hands of the Ministry for Alien Detection. The film was released in the UK in mid-October 2019, goes on release in Australia and the US this week, and has so far taken US$33M at the Box Office.With five 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. 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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