In November the world bid a fond farewell to a 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 . . . .
Stan Lee, Ken Swofford, William Goldman, Nicolas Roeg, Ricky Jay and
Bernardo Bertolucci.
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Ken Swofford : born Kenneth Charles Swofford on 25th July 1933 and died 1st November 2018, aged 85. Swofford was an American film and television Actor who amassed 125 acting credits over a career spanning six decades. His movie credits included the likes of
'The Andromeda Strain', 'Skyjacked', 'The Domino Principle', 'S.O.B.', 'Annie' (the 1982 version) and
'Thelma & Louise'. He was however, more prolific in his TV career with guest and recurring appearances on a number of popular series including
'The Virginian', 'Mission : Impossible', 'The Streets of San Francisco', 'Columbo', 'The Waltons', 'The Partridge Family', 'Gunsmoke', 'Ellery Queen', 'Rich Man, Poor Man : Book II', 'Police Story', 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'The Rockford Files', 'Fame', 'Dynasty', 'Dallas', 'Baywatch' and
'Murder, She Wrote'.
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Stan Lee : born Stanley Martin Leiber on 28th December 1922, died 12th November 2018 aged 95. Lee was
an American comic book Writer, Editor, and Publisher who was active from the '40's right through to the 2010's. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics' uppermost creative leader for two decades, spearheading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics industry, and many would say the movie industry too. Collaborating with others at Marvel, especially fellow Co-Writer and Artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he was responsible for co-creating many popular fictional characters that are now forever ingrained in our sub-conscience, including superheroes Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and Ant-Man, amongst others, all of whom have enjoyed considerable world wide success on the big screen over the past ten years or so. Following his retirement from Marvel in the 1990's, he remained a public figurehead for the company, and frequently made cameo appearances in films based on his Marvel characters, on which he received an honorary 'Executive Producer' credit. Records show that Lee had 218 Writing credits to his name, 154 Producer credits and 121 as Actor amongst numerous others. He also was the recipient of eleven award wins and a further nine nominations. What a legacy this man leaves behind!
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William Goldman : born 12th August 1931, and died 16th November 2018, aged 87. Goldman was an American novelist, Playwright and Screenwriter who first came to prominence with the release of his first novel in 1957 titled
'The Temple of Gold'. Over the years he wrote another fifteen novels, releasing his last in 1986, as well a s number of short stories and non-fiction works. In between time he became a prolific Screenwriter penning numerous films from 1965 right up until 2015. These included
'Harper', 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', 'The Stepford Wives', 'The Great Waldo Pepper', 'Marathon Man' (based on his own novel),
'All the President's Men', 'A Bridge Too Far', 'Magic' (also based on his own novel),
'The Princess Bride' (again based on his own novel),
'Twins', 'Misery', 'Chaplin', 'Maverick', 'The Chamber', 'The Ghost and the Darkness', 'Absolute Power', 'Hearts in Atlantis' and
'Wild Card' (once more based on his own novel) amongst others. He won eleven awards including two Academy Awards for
'All the President's Men' and
'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', was nominated for three Golden Globes, and won one BAFTA and was nominated for another. He was also the recipient of three wins and three nods from the Writers Guild of America. He was described as
'one of the late twentieth century's most popular storytellers'.
* Nicolas Roeg : born Nicolas Jack Roeg on 15th August 1928 and died 23rd November 2018 aged 90. Roeg was an English Director and Cinematographer who after completing National Service in 1947 got a job in the film industry working as tea boy then the clapper loader at Marylebone Studios in London. Throughout the '50's he progressed to various camera jobs graduating to the role of camera operator in which he worked on several film and television productions during the '60's including
'The Trials of Oscar Wilde', 'The Sundowners', 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Doctor Zhivago', 1967's
'Casino Royale' and TV series
'Ghost Squad'. It wasn't until 1970 that he gained his first Directing credit with the crime drama
'Performance' starring Mick Jagger. He followed this up with
'Walkabout', 'Don't Look Now' in 1973,
'The Man Who Fell to Earth' in 1976 with David Bowie,
'Bad Timing' in 1980 with Art Garfunkel,
'Eureka', 'Castaway', 'Two Deaths' and 2007's
'Puffball' being his last feature length film. All up Roeg had 29 Director credits to his name, twenty as Cinematographer and 26 working in the camera department. He accumulated nine award wins and another fourteen nominations including three BAFTA nods and three Cannes Palme d'Or nominations. In 1999, the British Film Institute acknowledged Roeg's importance in the British film industry by naming
'Don't Look Now' and
'Performance' as the 8th and 48th greatest British films of all time. In 2011, Roeg was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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Ricky Jay : born Richard Jay Potash on 26th June 1946 and died on 24th November 2018, aged 72. An American stage Magician, Actor, Writer and Consultant and in addition to his renown with sleight of hand tricks, he was also known and highly regarded for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats and quick fire stage patter. He is well authored in magic and its history having published eleven books on the subject, had numerous articles published and given lectures, demonstrations and exhibitions too. Jay had 39 Acting credits to his name since his television debut on
'Simon & Simon' back in 1983. Since then he has worked regularly in both film and TV on such productions as
'House of Games', 'Homicide', 'The Spanish Prisoner', 'Boogie Nights', 'Tomorrow Never Dies', 'Mystery Men', 'Magnolia', 'State and Main', 'Heist', 'The Prestige', 'The Brothers Bloom' and his last film role in 2015's
'The Automatic Hate'. In between his movie appearances he worked on both single and multiple episodes of such television shows as
'The X-Files', 'Deadwood', 'Kidnapped', 'The Unit' and
'Lie To Me'. Jay worked with Writer and Director David Mamet on seven of his films.
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Bernardo Bertolucci : born 16th March 1941 and died 24th November 2018, aged 77. He was an Italian Director and Screenwriter whose first Directing and Writing credit was on the 1962 murder mystery thriller film
'The Grim Reaper'. He worked progressively throughout the remainder of the '60's, '70's, '80's and '90's with his output slowing in the 2000's amassing a career portfolio that took in 25 Directing credits, 25 Writing credits and three as Producer. Among his more notable works were 1972's
'Last Tango in Paris' with Marlon Brando, 1976's
'1900' with Robert De Niro, 1987's multi-award winning (including nine Academy Award wins)
'The Last Emperor', 1990's
'The Sheltering Sky', 1993's
'Little Buddha' with Keanu Reeves, 1996's
'Stealing Beauty' with 2012's
'Me and You' being his last feature film outing. All up Bertolucci garnered 49 award wins including two Oscars, two Golden Globes and one BAFTA win; and a further 32 nominations. He was bestowed with the inaugural Honorary Palme d'Or at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Turning attention to this week then, we have no fewer than nine new cinematic offerings gracing an Odeon near you in the coming week. We kick off with a dystopian post apocalyptic world where a heroine emerges to stop London, now a giant city that has been propped up on wheels and roams the country side, from destroying everything in its path, whilst also trying to thwart an all powerful man she blames for the death of her mother. We then switch to a reimagining of the WWII Battle of Normandy and the eve of the D-Day Landings in this zombie gore fest tale of a small platoon of US soldiers who stumble across a Nazi experimental lab. Sticking with the undead genre we have next a British Christmas zombie comedy musical film that is quite probably something we haven't seen before; followed by a tale of college sweethearts in America whose life becomes inextricably linked by a twist of fate to a group of people in Spain. Next up is a true story about a successful writer who falls out of favour and so to make ends meet begins forging letters of the deceased rich & famous and selling them off for a tidy profit. This is followed by a RomCom about a 40 something year old Mum who has let her life pass her by, but who gets a second chance at a successful career by bluffing and faking her way into a major finance company under the guise that she is an expert Consultant. We then have another alleged true story set in the '90's in which a hip-hop dance troupe holed up in deserted school overnight and continue their celebrations whilst under the influence of illicit substances; before turning to a film surrounding two very different sisters one of which has a seemingly serious online relationship with a mystery man, whilst the other can see through the ruse and tries to prevent her siblings world form crashing in around her. We then wrap up with a supernatural horror offering set in a creepy abandoned school that harbours more deathly secrets than this mothers cares to overcome as she searches amongst its corridors and old classrooms for her missing son.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the nine 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.
'MORTAL ENGINES' (Rated M) - here the supremely collaborative team of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens get their creative minds around this latest post-apocalyptic steampunk adventure offering based on the book of the same name by Philip Reeve. The threesome here Co-Produce and between them penned the Screenplay of this American and New Zealand co-production that cost US$100M to bring to the big screen, is Directed in his debut by fellow New Zealander Christian Rivers, saw its Premier in London at the end of November, is released in New Zealand and Australia this week, and the US next week.
Set hundreds of years after civilisation was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, we meet Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan) who is a twenty-something Londoner who has only ever lived inside his travelling hometown, and his feet have never touched grass, land or mud. His first introduction to the world outside comes abruptly one day when Tom gets in the way of a mysterious young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar). She emerges as the only one who can stop London, now a giant, predator city on wheels from swallowing up everything in its path, whilst also attempting to execute a plan to kill Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) a powerful man whom she blames for the death of her mother. Hester and Tom wind up getting themselves banished from the moving 'traction' city, to fend for themselves. Driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with Tom along with Anna Fang (Jihae), a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head
. Also starring Stephen Lang and Patrick Malahide.
'OVERLORD' (Rated MA15+) - here we have an American WWII horror offering that spins a new slant on the historical D-Day Landings. Directed by Western Australian Julius Avery, whose only other feature so far has been
'Son of a Gun' in 2014, this film is Co-Produced by J.J. Abrams and is set on the eve of D-Day with American paratroopers preparing to drop in behind enemy lines to penetrate the walls of a fortified church and destroy a radio transmitter. When their plane is shot down the five remaining soldiers Corporal Ford (Wyatt Russell), Private Boyce (Jovan Adepo), sniper Tibbet (John Magaro), photographer Chase (Iain De Caestecker) and Dawson (Jacob Anderson) must continue on foot. En route they run into a French woman who agrees to escort them to their target, Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier). As the soldiers approach their destination, they soon come to the realisation that there's more going on in the Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation. Making their way to an underground lab, the outnumbered men stumble upon a sinister experiment that forces them into a vicious battle against an army of the undead. The film was released in the US on 9th November, cost US$38M to make, has so far grossed US$39M and has generated mixed or average Reviews so far.
'ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE' (Rated MA15+) - sticking with the undead theme, here where we have a British Christmas zombie comedy musical of all things, Directed by John McPhail. This offering saw its World Premier at Fantastic Fest way back in September 2017, and saw its US & UK release last week before its release in Australia this week. It has so far garnered generally positive Press. This film tells the story of how a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven – at Christmas time, forcing Anna (Ella Hunt) and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, as they face off against the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this brave new world, and with civilisation crumbling all around them, the only people they can truly rely on, are each other.
'LIFE ITSELF' (Rated MA15+) - this American drama film is Directed and Written by Dan Fogelman in only his second Directorial outing after 2015's
'Danny Collins'. The film follows college sweethearts Will (Oscar Isaac) and Abby (Olivia Wilde) as they fall in love, get married and prepare to bring their first child into the world. As their story unfolds in New York, fate links them to a group of people in Seville, Spain, including a troubled young woman, a man and his granddaughter, a wealthy landowner and a plantation manager all over several generations. With an ensemble cast that takes in Mandy Patinkin, Olivia Cooke, Annette Benning, Antonio Banderas and Samuel L. Jackson the film had its World Premier screening at TIFF in September, was released later that same month in the US, cost US$10M, has so far recovered about US$5M and has received generally negative Reviews.
'CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?' (Rated M) - this American biographical drama offering is brought to us by Director, Actor and Writer Marielle Heller recounting the real life exploits of Lee Israel, a noted American author who became a literary forger and thief. Based on Lee Israel's own 2008 confessional autobiographical book of the same name, the film stars Melissa McCarthy as Lee Israel who made her living through the '60's, '70's and '80's writing profiles of high-achieving women such as Katharine Hepburn, cosmetics executive Estée Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen and charts her subsequent life as she attempts to revitalise her sagging writing career in the '90's by forging letters from deceased authors and playwrights. She died in 2014 aged 75. The film also stars Richard E. Grant as her loyal and trusted friend Jack Hock. The film has received Critical praise in particular for McCarthy's and Grant's performances, and ha so far taken just $7M at the Box Office since its US release in mid-October following its Premier screening at Telluride in early September.
'SECOND ACT' (Rated M) - here we have an American RomCom Directed by Peter Segal whose previous film making credits include
'Anger Management', '50 First Dates', 'The Longest Yard', 'Get Smart' and most recently 2013's
'Grudge Match'. Here he Directs Jennifer Lopez as Maya, an under achieving forty something year old mother who has struggled with unfulfilled dreams and career frustrations. But, Maya's life is about to turnaround when she gets a chance to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as book smarts, and that it's never too late for a second act when a private finance firm is misled into believing that she's an accomplished Consultant, and hire her to handle a major business deal. Also starring Vanessa Hudgens, Leah Remini, Treat Williams and Milo Ventimiglia. The film is set for release in the US the week before Christmas.
'CLIMAX' (Rated MA15+) - this French musical horror mash-up is Directed, Written, Edited and Co-Produced by Argentinian filmmaker Gasper Noe whose previous Directing credits take in
'Irreversible', 'Enter the Void' and
'Love'. The film screened in the Directors' Fortnight category at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Art Cinema Award, cost US$3M, has so far recovered US$790K and has received widespread Critical acclaim. Allegedly based on a true story, here a troupe of young hip-hop dancers gather in a remote and empty school building to rehearse on a cold night one Winter sometime during the '90's. Their all-night celebration soon turns into a hallucinatory nightmare when they learn that their drinks have been laced with LSD. The film stars Sofia Boutella.
'NOBODY'S FOOL' (Rated MA15+) - this is an American romantic comedy drama offering from Writer and Director Tyler Perry. Released in the US earlier last month, the film has so far grossed US$32M off the back of a US$19M Budget investment, and has garnered generally lacklustre Reviews so far. And so, following a five year jail term, wild child Tanya (Tiffany Haddish) looks to her prim & proper do the right thing sister Danica (Tika Sumpter) to help her in getting reestablished into society. The feisty former prison inmate however, becomes suspicious and concerned when Danica tells her that she's in a long-distance, online relationship with a mystery man she has never met. As the polar opposites start to butt heads, Tanya quickly discovers that her sister's near perfect existence may not be quite what it seems, and her online love interest might really be a fake. Also starring Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Missi Pyle and Omari Hardwick.
'THE SCHOOL' (Rated M) - Written and Directed in his feature film debut, Aussie Storm Ashwood here crafts an Australian horror and otherworldly action fantasy offering that goes on limited release across selected cinemas this week. When Dr. Amy Wintercraig (Megan Drury) who is searching for her missing son, awakens to find herself in an abandoned school, she must survive a supernatural terror known affectionately as 'The Hungries' who are half dead teenage kids baying for blood, and a gang of youths headed up by Zac (Will McDonald) who seem to run the outlandish horror show, as well as face her own demons if she is to find the truth about where her son is. Also starring Nicholas Hope, Milly Alcock, Texas Watterston and Jack Ruwald.
With nine 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-
Set about one thousand years after civilisation was destroyed by a cataclysmic event known affectionately as the 'Sixty Minute War' what remains of humanity have regrouped and created mobile 'predator' cities that devour smaller mobile settlements across what was once Great Britain and continental Europe. 
The film opens up with a thrilling chase sequence as the mega city on wheels that is London (not as we know it albeit still containing some recognisable landmarks) hunts down a smaller mining community called Salzhaken. Eventually after admirably attempting to evade capture, Salzhaken and her people are captured in the giant jaws of London, under the very specific orders of Lord Mayor Magnus Crome (Patrick Malahide).
With the people of Salzhaken now inside London, they are assembled, processed and greeted by Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) - the Head of the Guild of Historians, a popular Londoner and a man with a plan! Amidst the captured is Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmer) who wears a scarf to mask her face. Hester has spent six months hunting down Valentine. 
Tom and Hester survived the fall from London and come round in the giant caterpillar tracks left by London as it continues its journey. The pair reluctantly team up as they seek to navigate the Great Hunting Ground with scavenger colonies on the look out for easy prey as night falls. Luckily, they narrowly escape on a hiding colony known as Scuttlebutt, but the owners lock the pair up with the intention of selling them as slaves once they reach their destination. While locked up and en route Hester confides in Tom some of her back story, and how Valentine killed her archaeologist mother Pandora Shaw (Caren Pistorius) after she discovered a piece of Old-Tech from a dig in the Dead Continent of America which he steals from her, whilst the young eight-year old Hester (Poppy MacLeod) escaped with an all seeing eye necklace her mother gave her moments before she died. This is why Hester wants revenge for her death.
Meanwhile, Valentine has hatched a plan to rid himself of Hester once and for all. He travels to an off shore floating prison colony which contains a dangerous and deadly cyborg inmate called Shrike (a barely recognisable Stephen Lang) - the last of an undead battalion of soldiers known as 'Stalkers', who were war casualties re-animated with machine parts and devoid of any memory of their past. Valentine's intention is to have Shrike hunt down and kill Hester, because of a broken promise the girl made to the cyborg.
Arriving at the slave market Tom and Hester are rescued by Anna Fang (Jihae) - a pilot and the leader of the Anti-Traction League, a resistance group standing against the mobile cities devouring Earth's resources and carving up the landscape. During the chaos that ensues, Tom and Hester are chased down by a relentless Shrike. Hester explains that Shrike had found and raised her after her mother was killed by Valentine, and Hester promised to allow him to turn her into a Stalker like himself, but she left six months ago upon learning that London was in the Great Hunting Ground. This is the broken promise that fuels Shrike's new found loathing for Hester, and why he wants his revenge for going back on her word . . . . but really, who can blame her?
Hester, Tom, Anna and the surviving Anti-Tractionists then travel to the 'Shield Wall' which protects an alternative civilisation comprising static permanent settlements in Asia. On London which is now rapidly advancing on the Shield Wall too seeking out fertile new territories to take over, Valentine kills Mayor Crome in a coup and drums up support from London's populace by pledging to destroy the Shield Wall using his new energy source. Arriving at the Shield Wall, Anna convinces the leader, Governor Kwan (Kee Chen) to unleash the Anti-Tractionist fleet of heavily armed aircraft to thwart London. But what they didn't count on was the sheer fire power of MEDUSA to destroy the airborne fleet in an instant and burn a gaping hole in the massive defencive structure of the Wall. 
