* Charles Wood - born 6th August 1932, died 1st February 2020, aged 87. Wood was a British playwright and scriptwriter for radio, theatre, television, and film. His work has been staged at the Royal National Theatre as well as at the Royal Court Theatre and in the theatres of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984. His many works across film and television spanned from 1961 through to 2008, and included big screen productions such as 'The Knack . . . And How To Get It', 'Help!', 'How I Won the War', 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', 'The Bed Sitting Room', 'Cuba', 'Tumbledown', 'England, My England', 'Iris' and 'The Other Man'. Wood received five award wins during his career and four nominations including a BAFTA win for 'Tumbledown' and three other nods.
* Gene Reynolds - born Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal on 4th April 1923 and died on 3rd February 2020, aged 96. Reynolds was an American Actor, television writer, Director and Producer. He was one of the Producers of the TV series 'M*A*S*H'. He made his screen debut in 1934 and for the next three decades made numerous appearances in films such as 1937's 'In Old Chicago' and 'Captains Courageous', 1938's 'Love Finds Andy Hardy' and 'Boys Town', 'They Shall Have Music' in 1939, 'Santa Fe Trail' in 1940, 1941's 'Adventure in Washington', 1942's 'Eagle Squadron' and 'The Country Girl' in 1954. Additional Directing credits took in multiple episodes of 'Leave It to Beaver', 'The Andy Griffith Show', 'The Farmer's Daughter', 'My Three Sons', 'F Troop', 'Hogan's Heroes', 'Room 222' and 'Many Happy Returns'. As a Writer, Producer and Director, Reynolds was involved with two highly successful CBS series in the 1970's and early '80's. Between 1972 and 1983, he produced 120 episodes of 'M*A*S*H', and for which he also wrote eleven episodes and Directed twenty-four, and in the meantime he also Produced twenty-two episodes of 'Lou Grant', for which he wrote five episodes and Directed eleven. Reynolds had been nominated for twenty-four Emmy Awards and won six times, including Outstanding Comedy Series for 'M*A*S*H' and Outstanding Drama Series twice for 'Lou Grant'. He won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series twice for his work on 'M*A*S*H' and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction of a Drama Series once for his work on 'Lou Grant'. Reynolds was elected President of the Directors Guild of America in 1993, a post he held until 1997.
* Kevin Conway - born 29th May 1942, died 5th February 2020, aged 77. Conway was an American Actor and one time film Director, who amassed eighty film and television acting credits to his name in a career that launched in 1973 and went through until the present day with the documentary film 'The Gettysburg Address' still in post-production. His big screen roles took in the likes of 'Slaughterhouse-Five', with 'F.I.S.T.' and 'Paradise Alley' both in 1978 and both with Sylvester Stallone, 1990's 'The Sun and the Moon' which he also Directed, 'One Good Cop', 'Rambling Rose', 1993's 'Gettysburg', 'The Quick and the Dead', 'Mercury Rising', 'The Confession', 'Thirteen Days', 'Gods and Generals', 'Invincible', and 'Is That a Gun in Your Pocket' in 2016 - his last film role. In the meantime, there were turns on numerous TV shows including 'Miami Vice', 'The Equalizer', 'The Beachcombers', 'Northern Exposure', 'JAG : Judge Advocate General', on 145 episodes of 'The Outer Limits' as the voice of Control, 'Oz', 'The Good Wife', 'Person of Interest' and as the narrator on both 'Who Killed Jane Doe?' and 'Prairie Dog Manor' last year.
* Kirk Douglas - born Issur Danielovitch Demsky on 9th December 1916, died 5th February 2020, aged 103. Douglas was an American Actor, Producer, Director, Philanthropist and Writer. After an impoverished childhood with immigrant parents and six sisters, he made his film debut in the 1946 feature 'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers' opposite Barbara Stanwyck. Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950's, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films. During his career spanning seven decades, he accumulated 95 acting credits, 32 as Producer, two as Director and two as Writer. His more notable big screen outings took in the likes of 'Champion' in 1949, 'Young Man with a Horn' in 1950, 'The Glass Menagerie' also in 1950, 'Ace in the Hole' in 1951, 'The Big Sky' and 'The Bad and the Beautiful' both in 1952, 'Ulysses' and '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' both in 1954, 'Lust for Life' in 1956, 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' and 'Paths of Glory' both in 1957, 'The Vikings' in 1958, 'Spartacus' in 1960, 'Lonely are the Brave' in 1962, 'The Heroes of Telemark' in 1965, 'Cast a Giant Shadow' in 1966, 'The War Wagon' in 1967, 'There Was a Crooked Man . . .' in 1970, 'Peg Leg, Musket & Sabre' in 1973 (which he also Directed), 'Posse' in 1975 (which he Directed too), the TV movie 'Victory at Entebbe' in 1976, 'The Man from Snowy River' in 1982, 'Tough Guys' in 1986, 'Welcome to Veraz' in 1991, 'Diamonds' in 1999, 'It Runs in the Family' in 2003, 'Illusion' in 2004 and his final screen appearance in the 2008 made for TV film 'Meurtres a l'Empire State Building'. During his illustrious career Douglas won 32 awards and a further 25 nominations including three Oscars nods and an Honorary Academy Award in 1996. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema - the highest-ranked living person on the list until his death. After barely surviving a helicopter crash in 1991 and then suffering a stroke in 1996, he focused on renewing his spiritual and religious life. Douglas and his second wife Anne Buydens (to whom he was married for 65 years up until the time of his death) donated to various non-profit causes during his career, and planned on donating most of their $80 million net worth, which he did through various donations and foundations. Kirk Douglas was one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, and was the father to also acclaimed Hollywood Actor, Director and Producer, Michael Douglas.
* Ann E. Todd - born 26th August 1931, died 7th February 2020, aged 88. Todd was an American child Actress, who later became a noted music librarian. In 1939, Todd made her acting debut in 'Zaza' Directed by George Cukor. In a career spanning some fourteen years, she appeared in almost forty movies alongside notable stars such as Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Temple, James Stewart, Tyrone Power, Ronald Reagan, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich. Her more noteworthy films include 'Intermezzo', 'Destry Rides Again', 'The Blue Bird', 'How Green Was My Valley', 'Little Orvie', 'Kings Row' with her final big screen appearance coming in 1951's 'The Lion Hunters'. Todd was a regular in 'The Stu Erwin Show' between 1950 and 1953 appearing on 104 episodes as Joyce Erwin before quitting show business for good.
* Orson Bean - born Dallas Frederick Burrows on 22nd July 1928, died 7th February 2020, aged 91. Bean was an American film, television, and stage Actor, and a comedian, Writer, and Producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a regular feature of Los Angeles’s small theatre circuit. He was also a favourite of famed talk show host Johnny Carson, appearing on 'The Tonight Show' more than two hundred times. Bean amassed 106 acting credits to his name, spanning seven decades from his first television appearance in 1952 in a production for the 'Goodyear Television Playhouse' right up to the present day with the film 'Froth and Bubble' currently in post-production. His movie roles included his big screen launch alongside Betty Grable in 1955's 'How to Be Very Very Popular', followed by 'Anatomy of a Murder', 'Lola', 1977's animated 'The Hobbit' with Bean voicing Bilbo Baggins, 'Innerpsace', 'Being John Malkovich', 'Alien Autopsy', 'Oranges' and 'The Equaliser 2' most recently in 2018. His TV appearances were numerous, including 'The Twilight Zone', 'Ellery Queen', 'The Love Boat', 'The Fall Guy', 'Murder, She Wrote', on 146 episodes of 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman', 'Ally McBeal', 'Will & Grace', 'Becker', 'Cold Case', 'Two and a Half Men', 'How I Met Your Mother', on 23 episodes of 'Desperate Housewives', 'Modern Family', 'The Bold and the Beautiful', 'Teachers' and 'Grace and Frankie'.
* Paula Kelly - born 21st October 1942, died 8th February 2020, aged 77. Kelly was an American Actress, singer, dancer and choreographer in films, television and theatre. Kelly's career began during the mid '60's in theatre, making her Broadway debut in the 1964 musical 'Something More!'. In 1969 she branched into movies with her debut 'Sweet Charity' which was followed by 'The Andromeda Strain', 'Top of the Heap', 'Soylent Green', 'Drum', 'Jo Jo Dancer : Your Life is Calling', 'Drop Squad' and 'Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Coloured'. Her small screen appearances took in the likes of 'The Streets of San Francisco', 'Police Woman', 'Kojak', 'Hill Street Blues', 'St. Elsewhere', 'The Golden Girls', 'Mission : Impossible', and 'Any Day Now' being her last role in 1999.
* Robert Conrad - born Conrad Robert Falk on 1st March 1935 and died on 8th February 2020, aged 84. Conrad was an American Actor, stuntman and singer who amassed eighty acting credits, seven as Director and five as Writer throughout his career which launched in 1958 with an uncredited role in the film 'Juvenille Jungle' and then his first credited big screen role later that same year in 'Thundering Jets'. Over the following years his feature films included 'Young Dillinger', 'The Bandits' (which he also Co-Directed and Co-Wrote), 'Sudden Death', 'The Lady in Red', 'Wrong Is Right', 'Jingle All the Way', and 'Dead Above Ground' in 2002 which was to be his final screen appearance. His small screen appearances took in the likes of 'Maverick', 'Colt .45', 104 episodes as Private Investigator Tom Lopaka on 'Hawaiian Eye' between 1959 and 1963, then 104 episodes on 'The Wild Wild West' between 1965 and 1969 as Secret Service Agent Jim West, and this was followed up by two made for TV films in which Conrad reprised his role in 1979 in 'The Wild Wild West Revisited' and again in 1980 in 'More Wild Wild West'. There was also 'Mission : Impossible', 'Mannix', 'Columbo', on 36 episodes of 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' between 1976 and 1978, the mini-series 'Centennial', thirteen episodes on 'High Mountain Rangers' and its spin-off 'Jesse Hawkes', 'Just Shoot Me' and 'Nash Bridges' in 2000. In addition to his screen acting career, he was also a singer, and recorded several pop/rock songs in the late '50's and early '60's as Bob Conrad. In late March 2003, while driving in California's Sierra Nevada foothills, Conrad drove his Jaguar over the centre median strip of the road and slammed head long into a Subaru driven by a 26-year-old man. Both men suffered serious injuries. Tried on felony charges, Conrad pleaded no contest, and he was convicted of drunk driving. He was sentenced to six months of house confinement, alcohol counselling, and five years' probation. In 2005 he ran for President of the Screen Actors Guild, but lost out to Alan Rosenberg.
* John Shrapnel - born 27th April 1942, died 14th February 2020, aged 77. Shrapnel was an English Actor of stage, television and cinema who notched up 106 acting credits during his carrier which kicked off with the 1963 short film 'Duet'. His ancestor Lieutenant General Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842) was a British Army Officer whose name entered the English language as the inventor of the shrapnel shell. His first major role came in 1971's TV mini-series 'Elizabeth R', with his first big screen role doing with 'Nicholas and Alexandra' that same year. This was followed up by 'Pope Joan', 'Hennessy', 'Personal Services', 'Testimony', 'How to Get Ahead in Advertising', 'England, My England', '101 Dalmatians', 'Notting Hill', 'Gladiator', 'The Body', 'K-19 : The Widowmaker', 'Troy', 'Alien Autopsy', 'Elizabeth : The Golden Age', 'Mirrors', 'The Duchess', 'The Awakening', with 'Hamlet', 'Branagh Theatre Live : The Winters Tale' and 'King Charles III' in 2017 being his final screen appearance. Meanwhile there were numerous single episodes, mini-series and made for TV movies including 'Space : 1999', 'Z Cars', 'Crown Court', 'Edward & Mrs. Simpson', 'Armchair Thriller', 'Sorrell and Son', 'Vanity Fair', 'Between the Lines', 'Bodyguards', 'The 10th Kingdom', 'Midsomer Murders', 'The Palace', 'Waking the Dead' and 'The Adventures of Merlin'. Shrapnel was also an original member of the National Youth Theatre and worked extensively in theatre, particularly the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre.
* Esther Scott - born 13th April 1953, died 14th February 2020, aged 66. Scott was an American Actor and voice Actor who launched her career in 1985 over thirteen episodes voicing Shodu Warrick on the animated TV series 'Star Wars : Ewoks'. From here her following small screen appearances included three episodes on 'Sister, Sister', three episodes on 'Melrose Place' 22 episodes on 'The Geena Davis Show', six episodes on 'The Help' and most recently between 2011 and 2015 on 24 episodes of 'Hart of Dixie' her final TV role. In between time there were many big screen outings including her debut feature on 1991's 'Boyz n the Hood' followed up by 'Encino Man', 'Don Juan DeMarco', 'Species', 'The Craft', 'Out to Sea', 'One Eight Seven', 'The Kid', 'Austin Powers in Goldmember', 'Fun with Dick and Jane', 'Dreamgirls', 'The Pursuit of Happyness', 'Transformers', 'Gangster Squad' and 'The Birth of a Nation' in 2016.
* Lynn Cohen - born 10th August 1933, died 14th February 2020, aged 86. Cohen was an American Actress known for her diverse range of work in film, TV and theatre. Cohen clocked up 112 acting credits throughout her career spanning from 1983 right through to the present day with her launching onto the big screen with 'Without a Trace'. This led on to 'Manhattan Murder Mystery', 'Deconstructing Harry', 'Cradle Will Rock', 'Fast Food Fast Women', 'The Station Agent', 'Munich', 'Invincible', 'Deception', 'Sex and the City' and its sequel 'Sex and the City 2', 'Synecdoche, New York', 'Eagle Eye', 'Staten Island', 'Not Waving But Drowning', 'The Hunger Games : Catching Fire', 'The Cobbler', with 'The Riverside Bench' in post-production and 'Six Dinner Parties' in pre-production at the time of Cohen's death, plus three other short films also in post-production. Her small screen credits included thirteen episodes on 'Sex and the City', twelve episodes on 'Law & Order', 'Nurse Jackie', 'Blue Bloods, 'The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel' and 'God Friended Me' among others.
* Kellye Nakahara - born 16th January 1948, and died 16th February 2020, aged 72. Nakahara was an American Actress perhaps best known for her recurring role as Nurse Kealani Kellye on the hugely successful and immensley popular long running TV series 'M*A*S*H' for 167 episodes between 1973 and 1983. Her big screen appearances were few and far between but took in 'Clue' in 1985, 'She's Having a Baby' in 1988, 'Shattered' in 1991, '3 Ninjas Kick Back' in 1994, 'Black Day Blue Night' in 1995 and 'Doctor Dolittle' in 1998 which was to be her last film role. In the meantime her small screen appearances included turns on 'Little House on the Prairie', 'Matt Houston', 'Growing Pains', 'NYPD Blue', 'Sabrina, The Teenage Witch' and 'The Wild Thornberrys' in 2000 which was to be her final TV role. All up Nakahara amassed twenty-one screen credits during her 27 year career in front of the camera. Outside of her acting career, Nakahara worked as a watercolor artist who painted and exhibited under her married name, Kellye Wallett.
* Zoe Caldwell - born 14th September 1933, died 16th February 2020, aged 86. Caldwell was an Australian born and raised Actress of stage, television and cinema who amassed 29 screen acting credits during her career which spanned from 1959 up to 2011. She was a four-time Tony Award recipient, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for 'Slapstick Tragedy' in 1966, and Best Actress in a Play for 1968's 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', 1982's 'Medea', and 1996's 'Master Class'. Her movie appearances include 1985's 'The Purple Rose of Cairo', 2002's 'Just a Kiss', 2004's 'Birth', and 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' in 2011. Caldwell also voiced the character of the Grand Councilwoman in Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' film of 2002, and continued voicing the character in the franchise's later films 'Stitch! The Movie' in 2003, 'Stitch's Great Escape!' in 2004, 'Leroy & Stitch' in 2006 and in 'Lilo & Stitch : The Series'. She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1970 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to theatre, and was a Life Member of the Actors Studio.
* Frances Cuka - born 21st August 1936, died 16th February 2020, aged 83. Cuka was an English Actress of stage, television and film whose screen acting credits took in sixty appearances in a career spanning from 1961 through until 2018, launching with the film 'Over the Odds'. From there she went on to appear in other movies including 'Scrooge' in 1970, 'Henry VIII and His Six Wives' in 1972, 'The Watcher in the Woods' in 1980, 'The Attic : The Hiding of Anne Frank' in 1988, 'Mountains of the Moon' in 1990, 'Afraid of the Dark' in 1991, 'Snow White : A Tale of Terror' in 1997, 'Swimming Pool' in 2003, 'Oliver Twist' in 2005 and 'Closer to the Moon' in 2014. In the meantime she appeared on four episodes of 'Emergency-Ward 10', 'The Champions', 'Pretenders', 'Within These Walls', 'Crown Court', 'Hammer House of Horror', 'The Ruth Rendell Mysteries', 'Minder', 'The Bill', seven episodes of 'Casualty', 'Holby City', recurring roles on long running Britsish soap operas 'Crossroads' and Coronation Street' and twelve episodes of 'Friday Night Dinner' between 2011 and 2018.
* Ja'Net DuBois - born Jeannette Dubois on 5th August 1932, died 17th February 2020, aged 87. DuBois was an American Actress, singer/songwriter and dancer who began her acting career in theatre, appearing in Broadway's 'Golden Boy' opposite Sammy Davis Jnr. and Louis Gossett Jnr. in 1964. Her first big screen role came in 1966 in 'A Man Called Adam' with Sammy Davis Jnr., and over the years this was followed up by the likes of 'A Piece of the Action', 'Heart Condition', 'Don't Look Back', 'Waterproof' and 'Charlie's Angels : Full Throttle'. Her TV appearances most notably took in 133 episodes of 'Good Times' between 1974 and 1979 with most singular guest appearances on such series as 'Kojak', 'Roots : The Next Generations', 'The Love Boat', 'Beverly Hills, 90210', 'Sister, Sister', 'Home Improvement', 'ER', 'Touched by an Angel', on ten episodes of 'The Wayans Bros.', voicing Mrs. Florence Avery, on 42 episodes of the stop motion animated series 'The PJ's' and then 'Everybody Loves Raymond', 'Crossing Jordan' and 'Cold Case'. During the '80's, DuBois operated the Ja'net DuBois Academy of Theater Arts and Sciences, a performing-arts school for teenagers in Long Island, New York, and in 1992, DuBois, Danny Glover and Ayuko Babu co-founded the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in Los Angeles. 
* Boris Leskin - born Boris Lyoskin on 5th January 1923, died 21st February 2020, aged 97. Leskin was a Russian and American Actor of stage and cinema, who accumulated 41 acting credits during his career which launched with an uncredited role in the 1953 Soviet film 'Lyubov Yaravaya'. In 1952 he graduated from the Ostrovsky Leningrad Theatre Institute, and from 1951 up to 1980 he worked as an Actor in the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theatre. In 1980 he began his career in the United States as a theatre Actor in New York City. His first Hollywood production came in 1985 with 'The Falcon and the Snowman', followed by 'The House on Carroll Street', 'Vampire's Kiss', 'The Package', 'Cadillac Man', 'A Couch in New York', 'Men in Black', 'Everything is Illuminated' and 'Cold Souls' in 2009 which was to be his final screen appearance. He was included in the Academy Awards nomination committee too.
* Diana Serra Cary - born Peggy-Jean Montgomery on 29th October 1918, died 24th February 2020, aged 101. Known throughout her early years by her stage name of Baby Peggy, she was an American child Actress and later vaudevillian, author and silent film historian. She was the last living film star of Hollywood's Silent Era. Montgomery, as she then was, was one of the three major American child stars of the Hollywood silent film era along with Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie (Marie Osborne Yeats). Between 1921 and 1923 she made over 150 short films for the Century Film Corporation. In 1922 she received over 1.2 million fan letters and by 1924, she had been dubbed The Million Dollar Baby for her US$1.5M annual salary (grossed up for inflation equivalent to about US$23M today). Her feature film credits take in her debut in an uncredited role in 1921's 'Fool's Paradise', and this was followed up by 'Penrod' in 1922, 'The Darling of New York' in 1923, 'The Law Forbids', 'Captain January', 'The Family Secret' and 'Helen's Babies' all in 1924, and then 'April Fool', 'The Dangerous Dub' and 'Prisoners of the Storm' all in 1926. 'Off His Base', 'Eight Girls in a Boat' and 1936's 'Girl's Dormitory' was to be her last credited role. Through reckless spending and her fathers corrupt business partners, her entire fortune was gone before she hit puberty. She absolutely hated screen work and retired soon after appearing as an extra in 'Having Wonderful Time' in 1938. Following years of emotional struggle and open derision from Hollywood insiders and the media, Cary came to terms eventually with her Baby Peggy past. She has had successful careers as a publisher, historian, and author on Hollywood subjects, writing, among other works, her 1996 autobiography of her life as a child star, 'What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star'. As an adult, Cary has worked on numerous books regarding the early years of the film industry, Hollywood cowboys, and the harsh working conditions subjected on child stars in Hollywood. She has also advocated for reforms in child performer protection laws, most recently as a member of the organisation 'A Minor Consideration'. At the age of 99, Cary self-published her first novel 'The Drowning of the Moon'.
* Michael Medwin - born 18th July 1923, died 26th February 2020, aged 96. Medwin was an English Actor and seven times Producer, in a career spanning seven decades from his first uncredited big screen appearance in the 1946 feature 'Piccadilly Incident', right through to his final role appearing in the film 'Framed' in 2008. All up he racked up 117 screen credits including such feature films as 'Black Memory' and 'An Ideal Husband' in 1947, 'Anna Karenina' in 1948, 'My Sister and I' also in 1948 and which Medwin also co-wrote, 'Someone at the Door' in 1950, 'Doctor at Sea' in 1955, 'Charley Moon' and 'A Hill in Korea' both in 1956, 'Doctor at Large' in 1957, 'Carry on Nurse' in 1959, 'The Longest Day' in 1962, 'The Sandwich Man' in 1966, 'A Countess from Hong Kong' in 1967, 'Scrooge' in 1970, 'Law and Disorder' in 1974, 'The Sea Wolves' in 1980, 'Never Say Never Again' in 1983, 'The Fool' in 1990 and 'The Duchess' in 2008. In the intervening years there were also many TV series appearances including 'The Army Game' in 1957, on all six episodes of 'The Love of Mike' in 1960, on 26 episodes of 'Three Live Wires' in 1961, on 21 episodes of 'Shoestring' in 1979/80, on 'Boon', 'Lovejoy', 'Holby City', 'The Bill', 'Doctors' and 'Heartbeat' amongst others. In 2005 Medwin was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire), in the Queens Birthday Honour's List for Services to Drama, which he later described as the single greatest thing that ever happened to him.
* Joyce Gordon - born 25th March 1929, died 28th February 2020, aged 90. After moving to New York when she was 19, she made early appearances on radio and live TV, including dramatic roles on 'Studio One', 'Robert Montgomery Presents' and 'Search for Tomorrow'. As an Actor, she was best known as a pioneering performer in early television commercials and network promotional campaigns. She expanded her dramatic range with frequent dubbing of foreign Actors into English. Her voice can be heard in classic films by Directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Jean Renoir, and she is the voice of Claudia Cardinale in Sergio Leone’s epic 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. In 1966, she was elected President of the New York Branch of the Screen Actors Guild, a first for a woman in any branch of the Guild. In all, she served the union for more than four decades, was a trustee of the SAG-AFTRA Motion Picture Player Welfare Fund, and a longtime advocate of a merger between the Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Additionally, she served for more than three decades as a trustee of the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Pension & Health Plans.For this week we have seven new release films to tempt you out to your local Odeon, kicking off with the true story of a two decades long legal battle fought between a small rural farming community and a massive US industrial company accused of dumping toxic chemical waste into landfill so poisoning their fields, livestock and the local population. Next up we have a sports drama about a has been basketball player whose life is crumbling away from him, but who is given a shot at redemption by coaching his former high school team of seemingly no hopers. We then turn to a romantic drama offering as two lives cross as a result of the discovery of an old photo that merits further investigation. This is followed up by a highly acclaimed foreign language doco about a remote community where one women is an avid apiarist and the effects that the modern world is having on this art form. From here we go to a remake of a French film from a few years back about a family in the aftermath of an avalanche and the soul searching that this husband and wife team go through as a result of their near death experience. And we conclude this weeks new release movies with two Aussie offerings - one a soldier returning home from active duty with PTSD and how he must confront the inner demons of his past life in order to move forward with the present; and then closing out with a horror about a bunch of campers who choose an abandoned camp site at which to settle down not knowing what mysterious and malevolent dangers lie in wait in the surrounding woodland, that was the very reason why this camping ground was shut down in the first place.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the seven 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.
'DARK WATERS' (Rated M) - is an American legal thriller film Directed by Todd Haynes whose previous Directorial outings take in 'Velvet Goldmine', 'Far from Heaven', 'I'm Not There', 'Carol' and 'Wonderstruck' most recently. It is based on the 2016 article 'The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare' by Nathaniel Rich, published in The New York Times Magazine. Robert Bilott, the principal character in the film portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, also wrote a memoir in 2019 titled 'Exposure : poisoned water, corporate greed and one lawyers twenty year battle against DuPont'. The film had a wide US release in early December, has garnered generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$14M.
'THE WAY BACK' (Rated M) - this American sports drama film is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Gavin O'Connnor whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'Pride and Glory' in 2008, 'Warrior' in 2011, 'Jane Got a Gun' in 2015 and 'The Accountant' in 2016. Here, Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck, who also Co-Produces) once had a life filled with promise and hope. In high school, he was a basketball legend already with a full university scholarship, when suddenly, for reasons unknown, he walked away from the game, turning his back on his future. Now years later, Jack is on a downward spiral, triggered by an unspeakable loss, and drowning in the alcoholism that cost him his marriage and any hope for a better life. When he is asked to coach the disparate ethnically mixed basketball team at his alma mater, which has fallen far since his glory days, he reluctantly accepts, surprising no one more than himself. As the boys start to come together as a team and against the odds win, Jack may have finally found a reason to confront the demons that have haunted him up to now. But will it be enough to fill the void, heal the deep wounds of his past, and set him on the road to redemption, recovery and renewal? The film is released Stateside this week too. 
'THE PHOTOGRAPH' (Rated CTC) - is an American romantic drama film Written and Directed by Stella Meghie in her fourth film making outing following 'Jean of the Joneses' in 2016, 'Everything, Everything' in 2017 and 'The Weekend' in 2018. This film was released in the US on 14th February, has so far grossed US$20M from its budget outlay of US$16M and has received generally positive press so far. In this story, when famed photographer Christina Eames (Chante Adams) unexpectedly dies, she leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton (Issa Rae) angry, hurt, and with plenty of unanswered questions. When she uncovers a photograph hidden away in a safe-deposit box, Mae finds herself on a journey digging into her mother’s early life igniting a powerful, surprise romance with a journalist on the rise, Michael Block (Lakeith Stanfield). Also starring Lil Rey Howery, Rob Morgan and Courtney B. Vance.
'HONEYLAND' (Rated M) - here this Macedonian documentary film is Directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. This film centres around the life and labours of Hatidze Muratova, a Macedonian wild beekeeper of Turkish descent who lives in the village of Bekirlija in the municipality of Lozovo. As the village is in a secluded mountain, she has no access to electricity or running water. She is one of the last wild beekeepers in the country and indeed the continent. Filming of 'Honeyland' lasted for three years, with the Directors collecting a total of four hundred hours of footage. Several environmental topics are explored in the documentary such as climate change, biodiversity loss and exploitation of natural resources. Two different ideologies are contrasted with the documentary's main protagonists, namely humanity's balance with the ecosystem portrayed through Muratova and consumerism and resource depletion portrayed through her recently arrived new nomad neighbours. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2019, and has since received widespread and universal acclaim from film critics who praised its attention to visual details and the universal message of nature conservation. The film has so far grossed US$848K and has collected 32 award wins and a further 48 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit including two Academy Award nods for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Film making it the first documentary in history to receive a nomination in both categories. 
'DOWNHILL' (Rated M) - this is an American black comedy drama Directed and Co-Written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash and is based on the French, Norwegian and Swedish Co-Produced film 'Force Majeure' from 2014 as Directed by Ruben Ostlund. The film saw its World Premier at the recent Sundance Film Festival back in late January, had its wide release Stateside on 14th February, has so far taken US8M in Box Office sales and has generated mixed or average Reviews. And so after believing they are about to be killed by an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, married couple Pete and Billie Staunton (Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus respectively) together with their kids Finn and Emerson (Julian Grey and Ammon Jacob Ford respectively) is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how the husband and wife pairing really feel about each other. Also starring Miranda Otto.
'ESCAPE AND EVASION' (Rated MA15+) - is an Australian production Directed and Written by Storm Ashwood in only his second film making outing following 2018's horror offering 'The School'. After his men are killed in Burma, a lone soldier returns home from that ill fated mission in search of some peace and quiet with which to reconcile and recover while suffering with traumatic PTSD. Trying to save his relationship with his daughter Lizzy (Jesse Robertson) and assimilate back into society, he’s pressed for questions by one of his dead soldier’s sister who needs to know what happened on the mission, and an unrelenting journalist. Forced to confront the ghosts of his past, Seth (Josh McConville) has to overcome his own inner battles to be able to begin to move forward with his life. Also starring Hugh Sheridan and Steve Le Marquand. 
'ASHBURN WATERS' (Rated CTC) - this Australian horror film is Written, Directed and Edited by David Pether in his feature film debut. When a series of unexplained deaths occur at Ashburn Waters Campgrounds, the site is forced to close its gates for the safety of the public. Months later, authorities still have no tangible leads, and the campsite sits dormant. Until the Easter long weekend holiday break, when a group of former school mates sneak in seeking a campsite, as they failed to book a site anywhere else on Australia's busiest camping weekend. Among them is Brett (Kyal Scott), a young man going through a hard time in his life. The source of which is his now ex-girlfriend Scout (Jade Prechelt), who brought along her new love interest just to rub it in his face. And to make matters worse, something is killing off his friends, one by one at night. Who or what is picking off the campers at Ashburn Waters, and can Brett get his remaining friends to safety before they all succumb to a malevolent force?With seven 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-
