* Christopher Beeny was born 7th July 1941, and died 3rd January 2020 aged 78. Beeny was an English Actor and dancer of film, television and theatre who started out as a child Actor on stage from 1951 and in film from 1953, and progressed over the years to accumulate 37 acting credits. His big screen debut came in 1953 in 'The Long Memory' with John Mills and Thora Hird, and then 'The Kidnappers', 'Child's Play', 'It's a Great Day', 'A French Mistress', an uncredited role in 'Doctor in Distress' and 'Pop Pirates'. His television career was more prolific with multiple appearances on such series as 'The Grove Family' between 1954 and 1957 over 125 episodes, on seven episodes of 'Outbreak of Murder' in 1962, on 46 episodes of 'Upstairs, Downstairs' between 1971 and 1975, eight episodes of 'Miss Jones and Son' and 22 episodes of 'The Rag Trade' both between 1977 and 1978, on 37 episodes of 'In Loving Memory' between 1969 and 1986, and on 27 episodes of 'Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine' between 2001 and 2010 reuniting with Thora Hird where his career began some fifty years previously.
* Tom Long was born 3rd August 1968 and died 4th January 2020 aged 51. Long was an American born Australian raised Actor of film and television who amassed 27 acting credits during his career taking in big screen roles including 'Country Life' his debut in 1994 with Sam Neill, and then 'Doing Time for Patsy Cline' with Richard Roxburgh in 1997, 'Two Hands' in 1999 with Heath Ledger, 'Strange Planet' in 1999 with Naomi Watts, 'Risk' in 2000 with Claudia Karvan, 'The Dish' also in 2000 and with Sam Neill again, 'Hildegarde' in 2001 with Richard E. Grant and 'The Book of Revelation' in 2006 with Great Scacchi. In between time there was regular appliances on the likes of television series including 38 episodes on 'Seachange' from 1998 to 2000, on 22 episodes of 'Young Lions' in 2002, on thirteen episodes of 'East of Everything' and on five episodes on 'Woodley' in 2012 which was to be his final role after he collapsed on stage during a performance of the play 'Coranderrk : We Will Show the Country' at the Sydney Opera House mid that year.
* Buck Henry, born Henry Zuckerman on 9th December 1930 and died on 8th January 2020, aged 89. Henry was an American Actor, Screenwriter and Director who amassed thirty Writing credits, 63 acting credits, four as Director and two as Producer during his career which launched in 1959 and saw him through until the present day. During that time he garnered six award wins and a further twelve nominations including two Academy Award nods for Best Director on 'Heaven Can Wait' in 1978 and for Screenwriting on 'The Graduate' in 1967 for which he did win the BAFTA. He played largely bit parts in such films as 'The Graduate', 'Catch-22', 'The Man Who Fell to Earth', 'Heaven Can Wait', 'The Player', 'Short Cuts', 'Even Cowgirls Get the Blues', 'Grumpy Old Men', 'To Die For', 'Town & Country' and 'Serendipity' with the short film 'The Pillar Method' currently in post-production. His small screen appearances, of which there were a few over the years, included 'Murphy Brown', 'Tales from the Crypt', 'Will & Grace', '30 Rock' and 'Hot in Cleveland'. Henry also hosted NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' ten times between 1976 and 1980. His more notable writing credits over the years included 23 episodes of 'The Garry Moore Show', he was the creator behind 'Get Smart' from 1965 until 1970 and 'Quark' which ran from 1977 until 1978, on five episodes in 1984 of 'The New Show' and for feature films taking in his debut in 1964 for 'The Troublemaker', 'The Graduate', 'Candy', 'Catch-22', 'The Owl and the Pussycat', 'What's Up, Doc?', 'First Family' (which he also Directed), 'Protocol', 'To Die For', 'Town & Country' and 'The Humbling'.
* Edd Byrnes - born Edward Byrne Breitenberger on 30th July 1932 and died 8th January 2020, aged 87. Byrnes was an American Actor whose career began in 1956 and went through to 1999, amassing 85 acting credits to his name. His big screen roles launched in 1957 with an uncredited role in 'Fear Strikes Out' with Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden with 'Reform School Girl' and 'Johnny Trouble' following that same year. 'Marjorie Morningstar' followed in 1958 with Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood, and then came the likes of 'Up Persicope' with James Garner, 'Yellowstone Kelly' with Clint Walker, 'The Secret Invasion' with Stewart Granger, 'Grease' with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, 'Erotic Images' with Britt Ekland with 'Troop Beverly Hills' being his final feature film role in 1989 with Shelley Long. In between time, there were appearances on numerous television series including 'Cheyenne', 'Maverick', 'Lawman', on 163 episodes of '77 Sunset Strip' between 1958 and 1963, 'The Virginian', 'Alias Smith and Jones', 'Police Story', 'Police Woman', all nine episodes of '$weepstake$', 'CHiPS', 'B.J. and the Bear', 'Charlie's Angels', 'Vega$', 'The Love Boat', 'Fantasy Island', 'Married with Children', 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Unhappily Ever After'. 'Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)' was a song performed by Edward Byrnes and Connie Stevens reaching No. 4 on the U.S. pop chart, No. 27 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 30 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1959. It was based on Byrnes' character from the television show, '77 Sunset Strip'.
* Norma Michaels - born sometime in 1924 or '25 and died 11th January 2020 aged 95. Michaels was an American television and film Actress whose careers spanned from 1954 though until 2018 while amassing 75 acting credits, the majority of which came in the last twenty years of her life. She got her small screen debut on 'The George Gobel Show' in 1954, with her next screen appearance being in 1960 in 'Letter to Loretta' then 'Peter Gunn' and 'Dr. Kildare' in 1961, with her first big screen role outing in 'The Incredible Sex Revolution' in 1965. This was followed up by 'The Zodiac Killer' in 1971, and 'The Last Porno Flick' in 1974. Throughout the remaining '70's, '80's and '90's there were intermittent appearances on the likes of 'Kojak', 'Highway to Heaven', 'Land's End' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' amongst few others. From 2000 onwards she appeared in numerous TV shows including 'Gilmore Girls', 'Malcolm in the Middle', 'Ally McBeal', 'Everybody Loves Raymond', 'Medium', 'Boston Legal', on twelve episodes of 'Mind of Mencia', on seven episodes of 'The King of Queens', 'Mad Men', 'ER', 'Modern Family', '2 Broke Girls' and 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'. Her big screen roles during this time also included 'Big Shots', 'Wedding Crashers', 'George Bush Goes to Heaven', 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan', 'Acts of Mercy', 'Easy A', 'Bad Ass', 'Hello, My Name is Doris', 'Emma's Chance' and 'High & Outside : a baseball noir' most recently in 2018.
* Jack Kehoe - born 21st November 1943, died 14th January 2020, aged 85. Kehoe was an American Actor who notched up forty-two acting credits during his career which began in 1968 in the TV movie 'A Hatful of Rain' and ran through until 1997 appearing alongside Michael Douglas and Sean Penn in David Fincher's 'The Game'. In between time, there were numerous roles in such notable films as 'Serpico' with Al Pacino, 'The Sting' with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, 'Car Wash' with Richard Pryor, 'Melvin and Howard' with Jason Robards, 'Reds' with Warren Beatty, 'The Star Chamber' with Michael Douglas, 'The Pope of Greenwich Village' with Mickey Rourke, 'The Untouchables' with Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, 'D.O.A.' with Dennis Quaid, 'Midnight Run' with Robert De Niro, 'Dick Tracy' with Warren Beatty again, 'Young Guns II' with Keifer Sutherland, 'Falling Down' with Michael Douglas again, and 'The Paper' with Michael Keaton. Between his big screen roles he also scored several roles on more noteworthy television series including 'Miami Vice', 'Scarecrow and Mrs. King', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Fame', and 'The New Twilight Zone'. Kehoe retired quietly from the film and TV acting business following 1997's 'The Game' and was heard of very little since.
* Derek Fowlds - born 2nd September 1937, died 17th January 2020, aged 82. Fowlds was an English Actor mostly on television but with a small number of big screen credits in a career that lasted from 1960 through until 2017 and 79 acting credits to his name. His film credits included an uncredited role in his debut feature film - 1962's 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' followed up that same year with 'We Joined the Navy', then 'Tamahine' and 'Doctor in Distress' both in 1963, 'Hot Enough for June' and 'East of Sudan' both in 1964, and then 'Hotel Paradiso', 'Frankenstein Created Woman', 'The Smashing Bird I Used to Know', 'Tower of Evil', 'Mistress Pamela', 'The Copter Kids', 'Over the Hill' and 'Run for Your Wife' in 2012. In between time there were both short and longterm appearances on the likes of 'The Protectors', 'Z Cars', 'Dr. Finlay's Casebook', 'The Liver Birds', on 64 episodes of 'The Basil Brush Show', 'Clayhanger', 'Robin's Nest', 'Minder', on 22 episodes of 'Yes Minister' followed by sixteen episodes on its sequel series 'Yes, Prime Minister', on seven episodes of 'Affairs of the Heart', on six episodes of 'Rules of Engagement', 'Inspector Morse', 'Boon', 'Van der Valk', on six episodes of 'Chancer', 'Casualty' and perhaps his best known role appearing in 342 episodes of 'Heartbeat' between 1992 and 2009.
* Terry Jones - born Terence Graham Parry Jones on 1st February 1942 and died 21st January 2020, aged 77. Jones was a Welsh Actor, Writer, comedian, Screenwriter, Film Director and historian. He was a founding member of the Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy team together with fellow Oxford University graduate Michael Palin and Cambridge University graduates Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman, and American animator/filmmaker Terry Gilliam. Throughout his career which began in the mid-'60's Jones amassed 51 writing credits, 56 acting credits, sixteen soundtrack credits and eighteen as Director. His Directorial debut came with 1975's 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', followed by the two later Monty Python films - 1979's 'Life of Brian' and 1983's 'The Meaning of Life'. He followed this up with other feature films including 'Personal Services', 'Erik the Viking', 'The Wind in the Willows', 'Absolutely Anything' and documentary film 'Boom Bust Boom' both as recently as 2015. With Michael Palin, he co-created and co-wrote the anthology series 'Ripping Yarns' which ran for nine episodes between 1976 and 1979. Jones wrote numerous books and presented television documentaries on medieval and ancient history, and he also wrote many columns for 'The Guardian', 'The Daily Telegraph' and 'The Observer' British newspapers condemning the Iraq War. Many of these editorials were published in a paperback collection titled 'Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror'. Additionally, he was a member of the Poetry Society, and his poems have appeared in 'Poetry Review'. In July 2014, Jones reunited with the other four living Pythons to perform at ten dates 'Monty Python Live (Mostly) at the O2 Arena' in London. This was Jones' last performance with the group. In October 2016, he received a standing ovation at the BAFTA Cymru Awards when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to television and film.
* John Karlen - born John Adam Karlewicz on 28th May 1933 and died on 22nd January 2020 aged 86. Karlen was American character Actor whose career kicked off in earnest in the '50's although he scored his first credited role in an episode of 'The Big Story' in 1949. His first big screen role would however, not come until 1970 when he appeared in 'House of Dark Shadows' and its follow up in 1971 'Night of Dark Shadows'. He also appeared in the long running television series 'Dark Shadows' between 1967 and 1971 in 179 episodes. His other feature film credits took in 1971's 'Daughters of Darkness', 1976's 'A Small Town in Texas', 'Killer's Delight' in 1978, 'Pennies form Heaven' in 1981, 'Racing with the Moon', 'Impulse' and 'Gimmie an 'F'' all in 1984, 'Native Son' in 1986, 'Daddy' in 1987, 'The Dark Wind' in 1991 and 'Surf Ninja's of the South China Sea' in 1993. In between time he had numerous small screen roles that included over the years, five episodes on the long running series 'The Doctors' in 1963, 'The Mod Squad', 'The Magician', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'The Waltons', 'The Streets of San Francisco', 'Police Story', 'Charlie's Angels, 'Kojak', 'The Rockford Files', 'Starsky and Hutch', 'Quincy M.E.', 'Vega$', 'Fame', 'Hill Street Blues', 'The Winds of War', then on 124 episodes of 'Cagney & Lacey' as Harvey Lacey - a role he would reprise in four made for TV movies, 'Cagney & Lacey: The Return' in 1994, 'Cagney & Lacey: Together Again', 'Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling' in 1995, and 'Cagney & Lacey: True Convictions' in 1996. He also appeared in a few episodes of 'Mad About You' and 'Murder, She Wrote' up until 1995 effectively marking his retirement from the acting profession until a small role in short seven minute film marking the 50th anniversary of 'Dark Shadows - The Job Interview'. Karlen collected three award wins (including a Primetime Emmy) and another two nominations - all for his supporting role in 'Cagney & Lacey'.
* Nicholas Parsons - born 10th October 1923, died 28th January 2020 aged 96. Parsons was an English Actor, television and radio presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show 'Just a Minute' and hosted the television game show 'Sale of the Century' during the 1970's and early 1980's. He began presenting 'Just a Minute' in 1967 and never missed a show until 2018. His screen debut came in 1946 in television film 'Hay Fever', and in 1947 he gained his first big screen role in 'The Master of Bankdam'. This was followed up over the ensuing years in the likes of 'Simon and Laura' in 1955, 'The Long Arm' and 'Eyewitness' both in 1956, 'Brothers in Law' in 1957, 'Happy is the Bride' in 1958, 'Too Many Crooks', 'Carlton-Browne of the F.O.' and 'Upstairs and Downstairs' all in 1959, 'Let's Get Married' and 'Doctor in Love' in 1960, 'Carry on Regardless' in 1961, 'Murder Ahoy' and 'Every Day's a Holiday' both in 1964, 'The Wrong Box', and 'The Ghost Goes Gear' both in 1966, 'Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River' in 1968, and 'Spy Story' in 1976. In addition, he provided the voice of Sheriff Tex Tucker in the animated series 'Four Feather Falls', appeared in 39 episodes of the comedy sketch show 'The Arthur Haynes Show' between 1957 and 1965, on numerous episodes of 'Night Train to Surbiton', 'The Very Merry Widow and How', 'The Ugliest Girl in Town', 'Kappatoo', 'Cluedo' and 'The Wotwots'. His final acting role came in 2019 in the TV mini series 'Good Omens' providing a voice over rounding out a career spanning eight decades with too numerous film, television, radio and stage credits to mention. Parsons wrote an autobiography titled 'The Straight Man: My Life in Comedy', which was published in 1994, and he produced a book of memoirs in 2010 called 'Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation'. Parsons was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's 2004 New Year Honours for services to drama and broadcasting, and he was later promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for charitable services, especially to children's charities.This week, we have five new cinematic offerings to tempt you out to your local Odeon, beginning with the eighth film in the DCEU starring a female superhero we have seen before, but this time she gets her own standalone picture as a modern emancipated woman out to protect a young child from a nefarious narcissistic crime lord whilst putting together her own team of like minded gals. We then turn attention to an already acclaimed horror offering about a pair of lighthouse keepers stationed off New England in the 1890's and their gradual decent into insanity as their lonliness, mistrust and a raging storm takes hold. Next up we have another horror offering of a different kind when a mysterious meteor lands in the rural home of a family recently relocated from the big smoke, only to find their crops thriving but a strange hue that has enveloped the place and a mutant alien life form gradually seeking its way into their bodies and minds. This is followed up by an Aussie feel good family offering about a young teenager trying her damnedest to restore her dysfunctional family to their former happiness; and we close out the week with a award winning doco depicting the harsh reality of life on the streets of war torn Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War filmed over five years.
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.
'BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)' (Rated MA15+) - is an American all female superhero film based on the DC Comics team Birds of Prey that has appeared in comic books form, miniseries and special edition since 1996. Directed by Chinese American film maker, Producer and Screenwriter Cathy Yan in only her second Directorial outing following her 2018 Shanghai based 'Dead Pigs'. The film is intended to be the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and a follow-up spin-off to the 2016 David Ayer Directed film 'Suicide Squad' which despite its Box Office haul of US$747M from a production budget of US$175M and it winning seventeen awards and another 39 nominations garnered mostly negative press from Critics. 'The Suicide Squad' (aka 'Suicide Squad 2') is currently in post-production and is Directed by James Gunn, sees the cast from the previous film return except for Will Smith as Deadshot, and is set for a 6th August 2021 release date.
'THE LIGHTHOUSE' (Rated MA15+) - shot in black and white and a 'narrow, vintage' nearly square 1.19:1aspect ratio on 35mm film here American film maker, Co-Producer and Co-Writer of 'The Lighthouse' Robert Eggers, Directs only his second feature film following 2015's highly acclaimed mid-17th Century supernatural horror film 'The Witch'. In this late-19th Century set psychological horror offering Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) is sent on a boat to serve a contract job as a wickie (lighthouse keeper) for four weeks on an isolated island off the coast of New England, under the supervision of an irritable elderly man named Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe). After about four weeks which have not passed without incident, the two men start to grow closer whilst still remaining adversarial toward each other, but when a raging storms hits their tiny island outpost they are stranded and gradually start to lose their sanity. The film saw its World Premier screening at Cannes in May last year, was released in the US in mid October, has garnered universal Critical acclaim, has collected fifteen awards wins and a further 75 nominations so far, and has made US$14M off the back of a US$4M production budget.
'COLOUR OUT OF SPACE' (Rated MA15+) - is an American horror film based on the short story of the same name by H. P. Lovecraft and Directed and Co-Written for the screen by South African Richard Stanley here making his first feature film since the early '90's, although he has Directed three documentaries since then and has written a few others. Here the Gardner family has traded the hustle and bustle of city life for the relative peace and tranquillity of the country after they inherit a rural family estate located near Arkham, Massachusetts. Struggling artist patriarch Nathan (Nicolas Cage) tries his hand at gardening yet fails to yield any desired results. That changes one evening when a small meteorite crashes in the front yard of their small farm holding. The purple-glowing orb soon withers into dust, but not before infecting the local water supply. While the effect on the crops is bountiful, the family soon find themselves battling a mutant extraterrestrial organism that infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a technicolour nightmare. The film cost US$12M, is released Stateside this week also and has generated mostly favourable Reviews so far. Also starring Joely Richardson as Nathan's wife Theresa and Madeleine Arthur as Lavinia and Brendan Meyer as Benny (their daughter and son respectively).
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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