What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th November 2022.

The 22nd annual Belfast Film Festival is now in full swing having opened on Thursday 3rd November and closing on Saturday 12th November. This festival is Northern Ireland's largest of its kind, attracting over 25,000 people annually. The festival has grown to include the Docs Ireland international documentary festival, as well as an Audience Development and Inclusion programme. The festival also sponsors year-round film screenings around Belfast. Founded in 1995 the festival began as a part of West Belfast Festival and operated as the West Belfast Film Festival (WBFF) from 1995 to 2000. In its third and fourth year, WBFF ran as an independent event and included venues throughout the city. It became the Belfast Film Festival in the year 2000 and ran as a citywide event, including venues in all four corners of Belfast.

This years Opening Night film presentation was 'Ballywalter', from Ireland and Directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah in his debut feature film and tells the story of Eileen (Seana Kerslake), a caustic, unrepentant University drop-out whose dreams of a successful life in London have fallen by the wayside. Back at home with her mum, she makes ends meet by working as an unlicensed driver in her ex-boyfriend’s minicab. Shane (Patrick Kielty) has exiled himself in Ballywalter following the break-up of his marriage, but now he’s trying to get his life back on track by enrolling in a stand-up comedy course. When Shane calls a taxi to get him to his classes, Eileen answers and a surprising connection is made. As the two spend time together shuttling back and forth, a beautiful friendship develops. The Closing Night film is 'Aftersun' from the UK and US and is Written and Directed by Charlotte Wells in her feature film Directing debut. Here, eleven-year-old tomboy Sophie (Frankie Corio), is going with her single dad Calum (Paul Mescal) on a Turkish package holiday in the late 1990's. Days of sun, sand and shooting pool beckon, but there’s an undertow of sadness, maybe of future estrangement, to Calum’s laddish parenting, and it bleeds into Frankie’s perspective both past and present.

In the International Film Competition for first or second feature films, there are eight films competing for the award of a prize of £7,000 to the Director of the Best Film, alongside Jury Prizes for Outstanding Craft Contribution and Breakout Performance of £1,500 each. Those eight films are :-

* 'Blue Jean' - from the UK and Written and Directed by first timer Georgia Oakley. England, 1988 - and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government is about to pass a law stigmatising gays and lesbians, forcing Jean, a gym teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at school where Jean works, catalyses a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core.

* 'Unrest' - from Switzerland and Written and Directed by Cyril Schaublin. This is the story of young watchmaker, Josephine (Clara Gostynski), in 1877 Switzerland, who gets involved with the rising anarchist movement as new technologies begin to transform money, time and labor in a small town.

* 'Beautiful Beings' - from Iceland and Written and Directed by Guomundur Arnar Guomundsson. Here, Addi (Birgir Dagur Bjarkason), who is being raised by a clairvoyant mother and an absent father, decides to take pitiful, beaten-up Balli (Askell Einar Palmason) under his wing and into his little band of outsiders. The gang's comradeship gives them an escape from troubled, often abusive home situations, but their bonds of teenage brotherhood will be sorely tested by a toxic tide of systemic, cyclical male aggression that almost ceaselessly seeks to turn frightened boys into violent men.

* 'Falcon Lake' - from Canada and Co-Written and Directed by Charlotte Le Bon in her feature film making debut. Fourteen-year-old Bastien (Joseph Engel) and his family are on holiday at a lakeside cabin in Quebec with an old friend of his mother's. More importantly, with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Chloe (Sara Montpetit), an unsmiling teen with a morbid sense of humour, on whom Bastien immediately crushes very hard.

* 'Tommy Guns' - from Portugal and Angola and Written and Directed by Carlos Conceicao. In 1974, after years of civil war, the Portuguese and their descendants fled the colony of Angola where groups of independents gradually claimed their territory back. A tribal girl discovers love and death when she crosses paths with a young Portuguese soldier. Meanwhile, another group of Portuguese soldiers is barracked inside an infinite wall from which they will have to escape once the past comes out of the grave to claim its long-awaited justice.

* 'Carajita' - from the Dominican Republic and Argentina, and Co-Written and Co-Directed by Ulises Porra and Silvina Schnicer. Sara (Cecile van Welie) and her nanny Yarisa (Magnolia Nunez) have a relationship that seems to transcend their class conditions. They are the closest thing to a daughter-mother, but an accident will test their intimate loyalty and the innocent illusion that nothing can separate them.

* 'A Room of My Own' - from Georgia and Co-Written and Directed by Ioseb 'Soso' Bliadze. Tina (Taki Mumladze), a young woman who has lost her way in life, rents a room from the vibrant Megi (Mariam Khundadze), thanks to whom she gradually starts to discover what it's like to be free and to be able to make her own decisions without being reliant on men.

* 'Return to Seoul' - from France and South Korea and Written and Directed by Davy Chou. A twenty-five-year-old French woman, Freddie (Park Ji-Min) returns to Korea, the country she was born in before being adopted by a French couple, for the very first time. She decides to track down her biological parents, but her journey takes a surprising turn.

For the full details of the other film and presentation strands taking place at this years Belfast Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://belfastfilmfestival.org/

Turning the attention then back to this weeks three new movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you in the coming week, we kick off with the 30th film in the MCU and the sequel to a massive hit in 2018 that this time sees the nation of Wakanda pitted against intervening world powers as they mourn the loss of their king T'Challa. This is followed up by a doco set in the heart of the Tibetan highlands, where an award-winning photographer guides a writer in his quest to document the infamously elusive snow leopard; before closing out the week with a celebration song and dance film marking the 30th anniversary of a classic Christmas story as told by a renowned English contemporary choreographer. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or 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.

'BLACK PANTHER : WAKANDA FOREVER' (Rated M) - this American Superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics character of Black Panther, as portrayed by Chadwick Boseman in the 2018 film 'Black Panther', and who tragically died from colon cancer in 2020. This is the sequel to that 2018 film and is the thirtieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is once again Directed and Co-Written by Ryan Coogler. The film saw its World Premier screening in Hollywood on 26th October, is set for a worldwide release from this week, and is the final film in Phase Four of the MCU.

Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death, and a new threat emerges from the hidden undersea nation of Talokan and its king, Namor (Tenoch Huerta). As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

'THE VELVET QUEEN' (Rated M) - this French documentary film is Written and Directed by Vincent Munier and Marie Amiguet and is set in the heart of the Tibetan highlands amongst unexplored and inaccessible valleys, where multi-award-winning nature photographer Vincent Munier guides adventurer and novelist Sylvain Tesson on his quest to document the infamously elusive snow leopard. Munier introduces Tesson to the subtle art of waiting from a blind spot, tracking animals, and finding the patience to catch sight of the beasts. Through their journey in the Tibetan peaks, inhabited by invisible presences, the two men ponder humankind's place amongst the magnificent creatures and glorious landscapes they encounter along the way. 

'MATTHEW BOURNE'S NUTCRACKER!' (Rated CTC) - to celebrate its 30th anniversary with family-sized helpings of Bourne’s trademark wit, pathos, and magical fantasy, Nutcracker! follows Clara’s bittersweet journey from a darkly comic Christmas Eve at Dr. Dross’ Orphanage, through a shimmering, ice-skating winter wonderland to the scrumptious candy kingdom of Sweetieland, influenced by the lavish Hollywood musicals of the 1930's. Tchaikovsky’s glorious score and Anthony Ward’s newly-refreshed delectable sets and costumes combine with Bourne’s dazzling choreography to create a fresh and charmingly irreverent interpretation of the classic production. This film is Directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon. 

With three new release movie offerings 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 at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE WOMAN KING : Tuesday 1st November 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'THE WOMAN KING' earlier this week, and this American historical epic film is Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood whose previous feature film Directorial credits are 'Love & Basketball' in 2000, 'The Secret Life of Bees' in 2008, 'Beyond the Lights' in 2014, and 'The Old Guard' in 2020. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at TIFF in early September this year, has generated positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$87M off the back of a US$50M production budget. 

Set in 1823, a group of all-female warriors known as the Agojie, protects the West African kingdom of Dahomey that existed from the early 17th to the late 19th centuries, with skills and fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. One night under cover of darkness General Nanisca (Viola Davis) lays siege to an encampment where Dahomean women are being held captive in readiness for sale by slavers form the Oyo Empire. This in turn provokes the recently appointed King Ghezo (John Boyega) to begin preparations for war with the Oyo. 

Nanisca and her fearless group of female warriors begin training a new group of young would-be warriors to join the Agojie and ultimately defend Dahomey. Among this group of new hopefuls is nineteen year old Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), a strong-willed girl who was offered by her father to King Ghezo after refusing to marry a man old enough to be her father and who would beat her if she did not comply with his wishes. Nawi quickly becomes friends with Izogie (Lashana Lynch), a veteran Agojie. Later Nawi reveals to Nanisca that she is adopted and shows a birthmark on her left shoulder, when Nanisca tells her about the many battle scars she has suffered over the years and the many that Nawi will have to endure in her future. 

Sometime later, white slave traders led by Santo Ferreira (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and accompanied by the half-Dahomean Malik (Jordan Bolger) arrive in West Africa as trading partners with the Oyo, led by General Oba Ade (Jimmy Odukoya). Nawi comes across Malik one day while he is bathing in a watering hold in the jungle, and the two become friends when he explains that he is part Dahomean on his mothers side. Later that night after graduating from training to become a full-fledged Agojie and following the celebrations, Nawi sneaks off to speak with Malik and learns that the Oyo are planning to attack. Nawi reports back to Nanisca with this news who decries the young graduate for her disregard for her own safety and that of the kingdom potentially. Nanisca reveals that in her youth, she was captured by Oba, raped multiple times, and eventually fell pregnant as a result. After giving birth to a daughter, Nanisca embedded a half shark tooth in her left shoulder before ordering Amenza (Sheila Atim), another veteran Agojie to give the new born child away. Nanisca extracts the tooth from the birthmark on her left shoulder using a knife given to Nawi by Malik, confirming that she is her biological daughter. Nawi runs off distraught at this sudden news.

Nanisca leads a planned and co-ordinated attack on the Oyo catching them off guard, which is ultimately successful causing the remnants of the Oyo to hastily retreat. However, Oba escapes and Nawi and Izogie are captured to be sold off as slaves. One of the captured Agojie, who was not secured with bindings slips away and reports the fate of other captives to Nanisca. Meanwhile King Ghezo announces his wish to bestow the title of Woman King, his equal partner in ruling over Dahomey, upon Nanisca, but refuses to sanction a rescue mission for the captured Agojie, saying that if Nanisca disobey's his ruling then it will be met with the sternest of punishments. In the meantime, Izogie and Nawi hatch a plan to escape their captivity but Izogie is shot twice in the back during their attempt at escape and dies in Nawi's arms. Malik buys Nawi in order to safeguard her from a life of slavery. 

Nanisca defies King Ghezo's orders and sets out alone, but is later joined by a group of her other compatriot warriors, including Amenza, to rescue the captives. In the ensuing chaos Nawi rejoins Nanisca. Ferreira hastily rounds up several slaves and bound with ropes bundles them into a row boat bound for their ship anchored off shore, with Malik who proceeds to free the slaves who in turn set upon Ferreira and drown him in the shallows. Nanisca confronts Oba in close quarter hand to hand combat, with the former eventually overcoming the latter as she stabs him in the chest and he dies where he fell.

Triumphant the Agojie returns to Dahomey, where Ghezo briefly reprimands Nanisca for disobeying him, before bestowing upon her the title of Woman King. Following the festivities which continue well into the night, Nanisca and Nawi privately acknowledge their new found relationship as mother and daughter.

'The Woman King' is an action movie first and foremost that successfully manages to combine a fictionalised story with historical fact that weaves a coming of age, overcoming adversity and the power of a unified force of women into an epic crowd pleasing tale. Viola Davis once again proves her acting chops by delivering us a no holds barred, cut and thrust, nuanced yet emotionally scarred character that is both believable and relatable; while Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim and newcomer Thuso Mbedu also give compelling performances bringing emotional heft and weight to the films more tender moments and action sequences. I did however, feel that John Boyega's delivery of his lines left me straining to understand what he was saying under his accent; and for all the action scenes much of the slicing, dicing and blood letting was done out of view or off-camera I'm guessing for the sake of a more audience friendly M rating, not that this really detracts from the implied savagery of 1820's combat. 'The Woman King' takes all the best elements from 'Braveheart', 'Gladiator' and 'Wonder Woman' and melds them into an historical action epic that needs to be seen on the big screen.

'The Woman King' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 3rd November 2022.

The 30th Raindance Film Festival this year is being held from Wednesday 26th October through until Saturday 5th November. The Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the UK. Holding the 30th festival in 2022, Raindance is based in the heart of London’s buzzing West End film district. The Festival is officially recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences USA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the British Independent Film Awards. 

The Festival Sections comprise world-renowned programme of the best UK and international independent films; House of Raindance consisting of talks and panel discussions; Raindance VRX programme for virtual reality and new media and networking events. Each year, Raindance attracts 16,000 visitors including 500 industry professionals into London.

The Opening Night film was the International Premier of 'Corner Office' Directed by Joachim Back and starring Jon Hamm as Orson, a corporate drone trying to move up in his entry-level job, discovers a secret room in his drab, soul-crushing office building on his first day in the job - a discovery that causes problems with his new colleagues. The Closing Night Gala film presentation is the International Premier of 'Pinball : The Man Who Saved the Game' Directed by Austin and Meredith Bragg in their feature film debuts. This is the story of journalist Roger Sharpe who has mastered one thing in life - pinball. But when a police raid destroys the only machines he can find in 1970's New York City, he learns the game is illegal. Roger reluctantly fights the ban while falling in love with a single mother. Inspired by true events.

Included in this years strands are :

Debut Features

* 'Broadway' - from Greece, France and Romania and Directed by Christos Massalas. Having escaped from her wealthy and controlling family, Nelly, a dancer in a strip club, is rescued by charismatic gangster Markos. The two soon become lovers until he’s arrested and imprisoned, and a mystery man, wanted dead by Athens’ most dangerous mafia, takes an important place in the gang. UK Premier.

* 'Pamfir' - from Ukraine, France, Poland, Germany and Chile and Directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. In western Ukraine, on the eve of a traditional carnival, Pamfir returns to his family after months of absence. When his only child starts a fire in the prayer house, Pamfir must reconnect with his troubled past to repair the damage – a risky path with irreversible consequences. UK Premier.

* 'Roving Woman' - from the USA and Poland and Directed by Michal Chmielewski. The driver Sara, has been kicked out of her home amidst a break-up, steals a car, then seemingly falls in love with its owner setting out on a road trip to find him. International Premier.

* 'Falcon Lake' - from France and Canada and Directed by Charlotte Le Bon. Bastien and Chloe spend their summer vacation with their families at a lake cabin in Quebec, haunted by a ghost legend. Ready to overcome his worst fears to earn a place in Chloe’s heart, the holiday becomes a turbulent pivotal moment for the young boy. UK Premier.

* 'Gentle' - from Hungary and Germany and Directed by Laszlo Csuja and Anna Nemes. Edina, a female bodybuilder, is ready to sacrifice everything for the dream she shares with life partner and trainer Adam: to win the world championship. Expensive steroids and supplements, force her to take a job as an escort which makes her realise the difference between her aspiration and true self. UK Premier.

Homegrown

* 'Swede Caroline' - from the UK and Directed by Finn Bruce and Brook Driver. In this British mockumentary, we follow Caroline, a competitive giant vegetable grower, as she readies herself for the big annual National Veg Championship. However, Caroline finds her life turned upside down when her prized marrow plants are stolen and the two private detectives she’s hired are kidnapped. World Premier.

* 'Goldfish' - from the UK and Directed by Pushan Kripalani. A young woman in her early 30's returns home after much time away to help her mother deal with the onset of dementia, despite their troubled relationship. Aided by a community she once shunned, she discovers her mother anew. European Premier.

International Features

* 'To Leslie' - from the USA and Directed by Michael Morris. A West Texas single mother wins US$190K in the lottery and squanders it just as fast, only learning the value of sharing after she’s drank all her cash away. Leaving behind a world of heartbreak, and with her charm running out, she fights to rebuild her life and find redemption. UK Premier.

* 'Una Femmina - The Code of Silence' - from Italy and Directed by Francesco Costabile. Rosa is a restless girl who lives with her mother’s relatives in a remote South Italian village. When the truth emerges about her mother’s mysterious death, Rosa seeks revenge against her own blood. However, when your family belongs to the ‘Ndrangheta mafia, a single failed step can lead to death. UK Premier.

* 'Swallow' - from South Korea and Directed by Hee-il Leesong. When Hoyeon’s mother inexplicably disappears, he is forced to abandon his mundane corporate life to search for her. What he is not prepared for are the details of his mother’s violent and revolutionary past which he uncovers along the way. World Premier.

For the full details of the other strands being showcased, the official competition nominees, plus a whole host of other great stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://raindance.org/festival/

This week there are six new movie releases to tease out to your local picture palace, starting with a deeply personal coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American Dream, set in 1980 New York. This is followed by a story of two strangers who transform each other's lives, a psychological thriller, and a tale of love pitted against evil. Next up is an Aussie drama horror offering about an Instagram influencer who doesn’t just have a follower count – she’s also got a body count. And we close out the week with three films from New Zealand, these being a biographical film about a trailblazing Maori leader who spends her life breaking boundaries, speaking for the rights of Maori, and fighting for the land. Then we turn to a comedy drama about an anxiety fuelled young woman  on her way from Wellington to New York for an internship at a prestigious architecture firm when a moment of panic causes her to miss her flight, and closing out this weeks releases we have a documentary examining the widespread abuse inside an infamous west coast Christian Community cult and the institutional failures that have allowed it to continue.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or 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.

'ARMAGEDDON TIME' (Rated M) - this American period drama film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by James Gray, whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'Little Odessa' in 1994, 'The Yards' in 2000, 'We Own the Night' in 2007, 'The Immigrant' in 2013, 'The Lost City of Z' in 2016, and 'Ad Astra' in 2019. This film saw its World Premier showcasing at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May this year and received a seven minute standing ovation from the gathered audience. It was released Stateside last week, cost US$15M to produce and has generated favourable reviews.

Set in 1980 Queens, the film follows Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a sixth grader who dreams of becoming an artist. As Paul builds a friendship with classmate Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), who’s mercilessly targeted by their racist teacher, he finds himself increasingly at odds with his parents Esther and Irving Graff (Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong respectively), for whom assimilation is key to the family’s Jewish-American identity. Paul feels on firmest ground with his kind grandfather Aaron Rabinowitz (Anthony Hopkins), whose life experiences have granted him a weathered compassion. Also starring Jessica Chastain. 

'THE WONDER' (Rated M) - is a period drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Sebastian Lelio whose previous film making credits include the multi-award winning 'Gloria' in 2013, the multi-award winning 'A Fantastic Woman' in 2017 which also won the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Academy Award, 'Disobedience' in 2017 with Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Alessando Nivola and 'Gloria Bell' in 2018 with Julianne Moore and John Turturro. Here then, it is 1862 Ireland and eleven year old Anna O'Donnell (Kila Lord Cassidy) has stopped eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is brought to a tiny village to observe the young girl. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months. Is the village harbouring a saint 'surviving on manna from heaven' or are there more ominous motives at work? Also starring Tom Burke, Toby Jones and Ciaran Hinds, the film saw its World Premier at the Telluride Film Festival in early September, is release in the UK, the US and here in Australia this week before streaming on Netflix from the 16th November. The film has garnered generally positive reviews. 

'SISSY' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian drama horror offering is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes who also Co-Directed 'For Now' in 2017, and also stars Hannah Barlow. Cecilia and Emma were tween-age BFFs who were going to grow old together and never let anything come between them, until Alex arrived on the scene. Twelve years later, Cecilia (Aisha Dee) is a successful social media influencer living the dream of an independent, modern millennial woman . . . until she runs into Emma (Hannah Barlow) for the first time in over a decade. Emma invites Cecilia away on her bachelorette weekend at a remote cabin in the mountains, where her high school bully Alex (Emily De Margheriti) proceeds to make Cecilia's weekend a living hell. The film has generated favourable critical Reviews.

'WHINA' (Rated PG) - is a New Zealand biographical film Co-Written and Directed by James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones. The film tells the story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Maori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet resilient, Whina is the story of a woman formed by tradition, compelled by innovation, and guided by an instinct for equality and justice whose legacy as the Te Whaea o te Motu (Mother of the Nation) was an inspiration to an entire country. Starring Miriama McDowell as the young Whina, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne as the teenage Whina and Rena Owen as the older Whina Cooper, and also with James Rolleston and Vinnie Bennett. The film has generated positive critical acclaim since its release in New Zealand in late June. 

'MILLIE LIES LOW' (Rated MA15+) - this New Zealand comedy drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Michelle Savill is her feature film making debut. When a broke and anxiety-ridden architecture graduate, Millie Davies (Ana Scotney), misses her flight from Wellington, New Zealand to New York for a prestigious internship, she decides to fake having made it to New York, while lying low in her home town until she can come up with the cash to buy another ticket. Meanwhile Millie must convince everyone she really is in the Big Apple and not living in a tent in her Mum’s Wellington backyard, via an elaborate series of antics and evasions. The film has generated critical praise since its release in its native New Zealand in early November last year. Also starring Rachel House, 

'GLORIAVALE' (Rated M) - this New Zealand documentary film is Produced and Directed by Fergus Grady and Noel Smyth and is Written, lensed and Edited by Noel Smyth too. The pairing of Grady and Smyth previously helmed 'Camino Skies' in 2019. This film documents and examines the Gloriavale Christian Community located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island where it has a population os some six hundred members. The filmmakers follow the story of the Ready family, who were excommunicated from Gloriavale, and begin mounting a legal case against the leaders of the community for the widespread abuse experienced there by many current and former members. The film saw its debut screening at the New Zealand International Film Festival in early August before its wide release in New Zealand later that month. 

With six new release movie offerings 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 at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

The Odeon Online Obituary : Remembering the screen celebrities who passed away in October 2022.

In October, 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 . . . . . Gunter Lamprecht, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Judy Tenuta, Austin Stoker, Ann Flood, Eileen Ryan, Michael Callan, Angela Lansbury, Jeff Barnaby, Ted White, Robbie Coltrane, Jan Rabson, Ian Whittaker, Jospehine Melville, Ron Masak, Bernard Atha, Michael Kopsa, Leslie Jordan, Jules Bass and Leonie Forbes.

* Gunter Lamprecht - born 21st January 1930 and died 4th October 2022, aged 92. Lamprecht was a German Actor who generated 108 screen acting roles throughout his career which took off in earnest in 1960 in the feature film 'Die Brucke des Schicksals'. Following numerous appearances in TV mini-series, made for television movies and TV series he became perhaps best known for his roles on fourteen episodes of the TV mini-series 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' in 1980, then as Kapitan of the 'Weser' in the multi-award winning feature film 'Das Boot' in 1981 for Director Wolfgang Petersen and the TV mini-series 'Das Boot' in 1985, then other screen outings including 'Red Kiss' in 1985 with Lambert Wilson, 'Epstein's Night' in 2002 with Bruno Ganz, with a single episode on 'Babylon Berlin' in 2017 and the made for TV movie 'Meeresleuchten' in 2021 being his final screen role. Between 1955 and 1985, Lamprecht also performed at theatres in Bochum, Oberhausen, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Essen, Cologne, Hamburg, at Berlin's Freie Volksbuhne and at Recklinghausen Festival and Schwabisch Hall Festival. Lamprecht's memoirs, 'And Sadly I'm Still : A Youth in Berlin' was published in 2000, where he discusses his experiences in Nazi Germany and the postwar years. His second book, 'A Hellish Thing, Life' was published in 2007.

* Wolfgang Kohlhaase - born 13th March 1931 and died 5th October 2022, aged 91. Kohlhaase was a German Screenwriter, occasional Director and Writer who was considered 'one of the most important screenwriters in German film history' and was one of the GDR's most well-known and prolific film screenwriters. He notched up forty-six screenwriting credits and three as Director during his career which spanned from 1953 as co-screenwriter on the feature film 'Die Storenfriede' with other credits taking in the likes of 'Alarm at the Circus' in 1954, 'The Gleiwitz Case' in 1961, 'The Naked Man in the Stadium' in 1974, 'Solo Sunny' in 1980 (which he also Co-Directed), 'The Break' in 1989, 'Inge, April and May' in 1993 (which he Co-Directed also), 'The Legend of Rita' in 2000, 'Summer in Berlin' in 2005, 'Whiskey with Vodka' in 2009, 'In Times of Fading Light' in 2017 with Bruno Ganz and 'Persian Lessons' in 2020 being his final writing credit. Kohlhaase was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival, among his total awards haul of eleven wins and five other nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. 

* Judy Tenuta - born 7th November 1949 and died 6th October 2022, aged 72. Tenuta was an American comedian, comedy musician and Actress who accumulated fifty-six screen acting roles throughout her career which began in the 1974 feature film 'Deep Throat Part II'. She would go on to have other roles in movies taking in the likes of 'White Hot' in 1989 with Danny Aiello, 'Love Bites' in 1993 with Adam Ant, 'Butch Camp' in 1996, 'Material Girls' in 2006 with Hilary Duff and Anjelica Huston, 'Gibsonburg' in 2013, 'Garlic & Gunpowder' in 2017 with Martin Kove, Michael Madsen and Vivica A. Fox, 'Deadly Crush' in 2018 with William Sadler, 'There's No Such Thing as Vampires' in 2020 with 'In the Position' in 2021 being her final screen acting credit. Tenuta also had eight writer credits, five as Producer and one as Director on the 2011 three minute short film 'Spike It' which she also starred in, Co-Produced and wrote. In addition to her small screen acting, Tenuta had various theatrical roles, most notably in 'The Vagina Monologues' and 'Menopause the Musical'. She also wrote two comedy books 'Full Frontal Tenudity' and 'The Power of Judyism', and released five comedy CDs, receiving 'Best Comedy Album' Grammy Award nominations for 'Attention Butt-Pirates and Lesbetarians!' and 'In Goddess We Trust'. Tenuta was an outspoken advocate for gay rights and amassed a faithful following in the LGBT community. 

* Austin Stoker - born 7th October 1930 and died 7th October 2022, aged 92. Stoker was a Trinidadian-American Actor of film and television who amassed fifty-nine screen acting roles throughout his career beginning with a single episode on 'Mod Squad' in 1969. His first big screen role came in 1973's 'Battle for the Planet of the Apes' with Roddy McDowall and Claude Akins and he would follow this up with other feature films including 'Airport 1975' with Charlton Heston and George Kennedy, 'Sheba, Baby' in 1975 with Pam Grier, 'Assault on Precinct 13' in 1976 for John Carpenter, 'Time Walker' in 1982 with Ben Murphy, 'Another Time, Another Place' in 1992 with Martin Sheen, with 'Give Till It Hurts' in 2022 being his final screen appearance. In the years in between there were also TV movies, mini-series and TV shows including 'McCloud', 'Kojak', 'Police Story', on thirteen episodes of the 1975 animated series 'Return to the Planet of the Apes' lending his voice talents, 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Roots', 'The Incredible Hulk', 'Hotel', 'Airwolf', 'Cagney & Lacey', 'Falcon Crest', and on eight episodes of 'The Bold and the Beautiful'. 

* Ann Flood - born Maryanne Elizabeth Ott on 12th November 1932 and died 7th October 2022, aged 89. Flood was an American Actress of stage, television and cinema who amassed just fifteen screen acting roles that ran from her debut in 1954 on a single episode of the 'Kraft Theatre' titled 'Charm Bracelet'. Her only feature film role came with 'Mystic Pizza' in 1988 opposite Julia Roberts, Vincent D'Onofrio and Annabeth Gish, however, it is her long running TV series for which she is perhaps best well known. These included 912 episodes on 'From These Roots' between 1958 and 1961, 3,567 episodes on 'The Edge of Night' between 1962 and 1984 as Nancy Karr and then on twenty-seven of 'Search for Tomorrow' in 1986. Her final screen appearance came in 1992 on a single episode of 'As the World Turns'. 

* Eileen Ryan - born 16th October 1927 and died 9th October 2022, aged 94. Ryan was an American Actress of theatre, cinema and TV, the wife of Actor and Director Leo Penn who died in 1998 and the mother to Actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn (who died in 2006), and musician Michael Penn. Ryan accumulated sixty-one screen acting roles throughout her seven decade spanning career which began in 1955 on a single episode of the 'Goodyear Playhouse' titled 'Mr. Dorothy Allen'. Her first big screen role came that same year in 'Three in One' and it would be another thirty years before her next feature film outing with 'At Close Range' with both sons Sean and Chris Penn and Christopher Walken. She would follow this up in 1988 with 'Judgement in Berlin' Directed by her husband and starring Martin Sheen and Sean Penn, and then 'Winter People' in 1989 with Kurt Russell and Kelly McGillis, 'Parenthood' also in 1989 for Ron Howard and with Steve Martin, 'The Indian Runner' in 1991 with David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Charles Bronson and Dennis Hopper, 'Benny & Joon' in 1993 with Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson, 'The Crossing Guard' in 1995 for Sean Penn and with Jack Nicholson and David Morse, 'Magnolia' in 1999 with Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman, 'The Pledge' in 2001 for Sean Penn again and with Jack Nicholson and Benicio Del Toro, 'I Am Sam' in 2001 with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer, 'The Assassination of Richard Nixon' in 2004 with Sean Penn once more and Naomi Watts, 'All the King's Men' in 2006 with Sean Penn again, Jude Law and Kate Winslet, 'Mother and Child' in 2009 with Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Kerry Washington with 'Rules Don't Apply' for and with Warren Beatty and Lily Collins in 2016 being her final screen role. In the years inn between there were also appearances on TV shows taking in the likes of 'Outlaws', 'Tales of Wells Fargo', 'Bonanza', 'Cannon', 'Little House on the Prairie', 'ER', 'NYPD Blue', 'Ally McBeal', 'Arli$$', 'Without a Trace', 'Prime Suspect' and 'Grey's Anatomy'. 

* Michael Callan - born Martin Harris Calinieff on 22nd November 1935 and died 10th October 2022, aged 86. Callan was an American stage, cinema and TV Actor and two time documentary Director who amassed ninety screen acting credits during his career which began with 'They Came to Cordura' in 1959 with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth. That same year he gained top billing in the feature film 'The Flying Fontaines' for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. He would follow this up with other movies including 'Gidget Goes Hawaiian' in 1961, '13 West Street' in 1962 with Alan Ladd and Rod Steiger, 'The Interns' also in 1962 with Cliff Robertson, 'The Victors' in 1963 with Albert Finney, 'The New Interns' in 1964 with Telly Savalas, 'Cat Ballou' in 1965 with Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin, 'The Magnificent Seven Ride!' in 1972 with Lee Van Cleef and Stephanie Powers, 'Lepke' in 1975 with Tony Curtis, 'The Cat and the Canary' in 1978 with Honor Blackman and Edward Fox, 'Stuck on You' in 2003 with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear with 'The Still Life' in 2006 being his final screen role. In the intervening years there were also many TV appearances including thirty episodes on 'Occasional Wife', 'Ironside', 'The F.B.I.', 'Love, American Style', 'Police Story', 'Police Surgeon', 'S.W.A.T.', 'Ellery Queen', 'Quincy M.E.', 'The Bionic Woman', 'Love Boat', 'Charlie's Angels', 'Fantasy Island', 'The Fall Guy', 'T.J. Hooker', 'One Life to Live', 'Knight Rider' and 'Murder, She Wrote'. Before his screen career took off, Callan got his first break on the Broadway stage in 'The Boy Friend' in 1954 opposite Julie Andrews and then in 1955 in 'Catch a Star', and following this he scored the role of 'Riff' in the original Broadway production of 'West Side Story' from 1957 until 1959. 

* Angela Lansbury - born 16th October 1925 and died 11th October 2022, aged 96. Lansbury was a British Irish American Actress of theatre, cinema and television who amassed 112 screen acting roles throughout her eight decade spanning career in front of the camera. Her film work launched in 1944 with her debut screen role in the feature film Directed by George Cukor 'Gaslight' with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She would follow this up with other films including 'National Velvet' that same year with Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' in 1945 with George Sanders which nabbed the actress her second Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe win, then 'The Harvey Girls' in 1946 with Judy Garland, 'State of the Union' in 1948 for Frank Capra and with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, 'The Three Musketeers' in 1948 with Lana Turner and Gene Kelly, 'Samson and Delilah' in 1949 with Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature, 'The Purple Mask' in 1955 with Tony Curtis, 'The Long, Hot Summer' in 1958 with Paul Newman and Orson Welles, 'Blue Hawaii' in 1961 with Elvis Presley, 'The Manchurian Candidate' in 1962 with Frank Sinatra which garnered Lansbury her third Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress and her second Golden Globe win, 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' in 1965 with Max von Sydow and Charlton Heston, 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' in 1971 with David Tomlinson, 'Death on the Nile' in 1978 with Peter Ustinov, 'The Lady Vanishes' in 1979 with Elliott Gould, 'The Mirror Crack'd' in 1980 with Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson, Disney's animated 'Beauty and the Beast' in 1991 in which she lent her voice talents to Mrs. Potts, 'Nanny McPhee' in 2005 with Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, 'Mr. Popper's Penguins' in 2011 with Jim Carrey, 'Mary Poppins Returns' in 2018 with Emily Blunt and Ben Whishaw, 'Buttons, A Christmas Tale' in 2018 with Dick Van Dyke and featuring the voices of Robert Redford and Kate Winslet and 'Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery' with Daniel Craig set for a release in November 2022. In the meantime, there were also many TV series and made for TV movies roles taking in the likes of 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Magnum, P.I.', 'Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', on 264 episodes in what has become known as her trademark role as Jessica Fletcher the professional writer and amateur sleuth on 'Murder, She Wrote' across twelve seasons from 1984 until 1996, 'Touched by an Angel', and 'Little Women'. She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. She was elevated to DBE (Dame Commander of Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Queen's New Year Honours List for services to drama and for charitable and philanthropic services. All up Lansbury was honoured with thirty-three award wins and a further fifty-nine nominations including eighteen Primetime Emmy nods, four other Golden Globe wins for 'Murder, She Wrote' plus nine other nods, the Honorary Academy Award in 2014 and the Special BAFTA Award win for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 1991. Lansbury also performed in numerous Broadway and West End theatre productions.

* Jeff Barnaby - born 2nd August 1976 and died 13th October 2022, aged 46. Barnaby was a Canadian Director, Editor, Writer and Composer who notched up seven credits as Director and Editor, and five as Writer and Composer. His first Writer and Director credit came with the seven minute short film 'From Cherry English' in 2004 and he would follow this up in 2007 and then 2010 with the short films the twenty-four minute 'The Colony' and then the eight minute 'File Under Miscellaneous' acting as Director, Writer, Editor and Composer on both. His two feature film credits were 2013's 'Rhymes for Young Ghouls' and 'Blood Quantum' in 2019 for which he also Directed, Edited, wrote and composed the music score for. 

* Ted White - born Alex Bayouth on 25th January 1926 and died 14th October 2022, aged 96. White was an American stuntman and Actor who notched up eighty-seven stuntman credits and seventy-six as an Actor throughout his career which began with his debut acting role, albeit in an uncredited one, in the feature film 'Sands of Iwo Jima' with John Wayne in 1949. He would have a number of uncredited roles in other feature films including 'Rio Bravo', 'The Alamo', 'Cat Ballou', 'Point Blank' before his credited roles became more frequent in the likes of 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry' with Peter Fonda and Susan George in 1974, 'The Legend of the Lone Ranger' in 1981, 'TRON' in 1982 with Jeff Bridges, 'Romancing the Stone' in 1984 with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, 'Starman' that same year with Jeff Bridges, 'Silverado' in 1985 with Kevin Kline and Kevin Costner, 'Wanted : Dead or Alive' in 1986 with Rutger Hauer, 'Major League' in 1989 with Charlie Sheen, and 'Double Take' in 2001 being his final big screen role. In the meantime there were also roles on TV shows including 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Bonanza', 'Mission : Impossible', 'Daniel Boone', 'Kojak', 'Kung Fu', 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Police Story', 'Centennial', 'T.J. Hooker', 'The Fall Guy', 'Magnum, P.I.', and 'The X-Files'. Much of his stuntman work went uncredited, but this feature films in which he did gain a billing include 'Comes a Horseman', 'Escape from New York', 'The Comeback Trail', 'Short Circuit', 'Ruthless People', 'Major League', 'Road House', 'Robin Hood : Men in Tights', 'Wild Wild West', 'Gone in 60 Seconds', '2 Fast 2 Furious' and 'The Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift' being his last credited stuntwork. In 1987, he revealed that his role as Jason Vorhees in the 1984 'Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter' made him feel somewhat uneasy, and so, at his own insistence, his name was excluded from the credits. During his career he doubled for Clarke Gable, John Wayne, Richard Boone and Lee Marvin amongst others. 

* Robbie Coltrane - born Anthony Robert McMillan on 30th March 1950 and died on 14th October 2022, aged 72. Coltrane was a Scottish Actor and comedian, as well as a four time Writer, two time Producer and one time Director. He amassed 114 screen acting credits to his name in a four decade career and which kicked off in 1979 on the BBC1 'Play for Today' series on a episode titled 'Waterloo Sunset'. His big screen debut came with a small role in 1980's 'Death Watch' with Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton, and he would follow this up that same year with a equally small role in 'Flash Gordon'. His other more notable feature film offerings came with the likes of 'Krull' in 1983, 'Defence of the Realm' in 1985 with Gabriel Byrne, 'Caravaggio' in 1986 for Derek Jarman and with Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean in their film debut's, 'Absolute Beginners' also in 1986 with David Bowie, 'Mona Lisa' again in 1986 with Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine, 'Henry V' in 1989 for and with Kenneth Branagh, 'Nuns on the Run' in 1990 with Eric Idle, 'The Adventures of Huck Finn' in 1993 with Elijah Wood, 'GoldenEye' in 1995 with Pierce Brosnan as Special Agent Bond, James Bond and he would reprise his role in 1999's 'The World Is Not Enough' with Pierce Brosnan still in the driving seat as 007. 'Message in a Bottle' also in 1999 came next with Kevin Costner and Paul Newman, then 'From Hell' in 2001 with Johnny Depp, then the first of his eight outings as Rubeus Hagrid the Giant in each one of the 'Harry Potter' films from ' . . . and the Philosopher's Stone' in 2001 through until ' . . . and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2' in 2011. In the meantime, there were also roles in 2004's 'Van Helsing' with Hugh Jackman, 'Ocean's Twelve' in 2004 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, 'The Brothers Bloom' in 2008 with Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo, 'Great Expectations' in 2012 with Ralph Fiennes with 'Effie Gray' in 2014 with Dakota Fanning and Emma Thompson being his last film role. In the years in between , there were many TV series appearances including 'A Kick Up the Eighties', on thirteen episodes of 'Alfresco', 'The Young Ones', 'Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee', 'Tutti Frutti', then perhaps his most highly regarded and famed role as Dr. Edward 'Fitz' Fitzgerald on twenty-six episodes of 'Cracker' between 1993 and 2006, on nineteen episodes of 'The Comic Strip Presents' between 1982 and 2012, 'National Treasure' and 'Urban Myths' being his final screen role in 2020. He also voiced characters in several animated films, including 'The Tale of Despereaux' in 2008, 'Brave' in 2012, as well as the title roles of 'Gooby' and 'The Gruffalo' both in 2009. Coltrane was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 HRH the Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to drama, and in 2011 he received the Outstanding Contribution to Film accolade at the British Academy Scotland Awards. All up Coltrane was the recipient of eleven award wins and a further eight nominations including three BAFTA TV award wins for 'Cracker'. Coltrane took the stage name in tribute to the acclaimed American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. 

* Jan Rabson - born 14th June 1954 and died 14th October 2022, aged 68. Rabson was an American Actor and voice Actor who accumulated 185 screen acting and voice work credits throughout his career which began with his uncredited voice work into the English translation on 'Don Quixote in the Tales of La Mancha' in 1980. His live action screen work included the likes of TV series 'One Day at a Time', 'Knight Rider', 'Cheers', 'Hunter', 'Thirtysomething', 'Night Court', 'The New WKRP in Cincinnati', 'Babylon 5', 'Baywatch' and 'Beverly Hills, 90210'. His feature film credits included 'Crimes of Passion' in 1984 with Kathleen Turner and Anthony Perkins and 'Fatal Attraction' in 1987 with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, with his voice work being on many animated TV series and feature films taking in sixteen episodes on 'Alvin & the Chipmunks', fifty on 'Denver, the Last Dinosaur', thirteen on 'Where's Waldo', sixty-five on 'James Bond Jnr.', thirteen on 'All-New Dennis the Menace', twenty-three on 'Creepy Crawlers', twenty-two on 'Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!' and on twenty of 'Superbook'. His animated feature film credited roles to which he lent his voice talents also included 'Toy Story', 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'Hercules', 'Mulan', 'A Bug's Life', 'Toy Story 2', 'Monsters, Inc.', 'Cars', 'Ice Age : The Meltdown', 'Surf's Up', 'Up', 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs', 'Toy Story 3', 'The Lorax', 'Monsters University', 'Despicable Me 2', 'Minions', 'The Secret Life of Pets' and 'Despicable Me 3', plus there were many more on which he went uncredited.

* Ian Whittaker - born 13th July 1928 and died 16th October 2022, aged 94. Whittaker was a British Set Decorator and Actor, who amassed thirty-five Set Decorator credits and fifty-six as an Actor over a career spanning from 1949 when he appeared in the TV movie 'Happy Week-End' up until 2009 with his last credited role as Set Decorator on the feature film 'From Time to Time' with Maggie Smith and Timothy Spall. His other feature film acting credits included the likes of 'The Slasher' in 1953 with Joan Collins, 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them' in 1954 with Dirk Bogarde, 'A Touch of the Sun' in 1956 with Frankie Howerd, 'The Revenge of Frankenstein' in 1958 with Peter Cushing, 'Operation Snafu' in 1961 with Sean Connery, 'Operation Snatch' in 1962 with Terry-Thomas with 'The Secret of Blood Island' in 1965 being his last credited big screen role although his final film role, albeit uncredited, came in 1990 in 'Frankenstein Unbound' with John Hurt and Raul Julia. His Set Decorator credits included 'The Boy Friend', 'Alien', 'Dragonslayer', 'The Missionary', 'Highlander', 'Three Men and a Little Lady', 'Howards End', 'The Remains of the Day', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Victory', 'Anna and the King', 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 'Being Julia', 'Mirrors' with the aforementioned 'From Time to Time' in 2009 being his final credited Set Decorator position. Whittaker won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for 'Howards End' and was nominated in the same category another three times for 'Alien', 'The Remains of the Day' and 'Anna and the King', as well as a further six nominations. 

* Josephine Melville - born sometime in 1961 and died 20th October 2022 aged 61. Melville was a British Actress and one time Writer and Director of the short thriller film 'Assistance' in 2021. Her screen acting credits take in her only two feature films 'Empire State' in 1987 and 'Slammer' that has completed filming and is awaiting a future release date. In the meantime, there were just fourteen other screen roles taking in the likes of her screen debut in 1983 in a single episode of 'Luna', and then 'Prime Suspect 2', 'Pie in the Sky', 'The Bill', 'Casualty', on nine episodes of 'Eastenders', 'L8r' and 'Hold the Sunset'. 

* Ron Masak - born Ronald Alan Masak on 1st July 1936 and died 20th October 2022, aged 86. Masak was an American Actor of theatre, television and cinema who amassed 122 screen acting roles throughout his seven decade spanning career which launched in 1957 on a single episode of 'The Spade Cooley Show'. His big screen debut came in 1968 on the feature film 'Ice Station Zebra' with Rock Hudson and Ernest Borgnine, followed by the likes of 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' in 1970 with Jason Robards and Martin Balsam, 'Evel Knievel' in 1971 with George Hamilton, 'No Code of Conduct' in 1998 with Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen, 'The Benchwarmers' in 2006 with David Spade, Rob Schneider and Jon Lovitz with 'The Curse of the Gorgon' recently completed filming and awaiting a future release date. In the years in between, there were also numerous made for TV movies, direct to video films and TV series, including 'The Monkees', 'Get Smart', 'I Dream of Jeannie', 'Bewitched', 'Ironside', 'McMillan & Wife', 'Mission : Impossible', on twelve episodes of 'Love Thy Neighbour', 'Love, American Style', 'Police Woman', 'The Rockford Files', 'Police Story', 'Wonder Woman', 'Magnum, P.I.', 'Remington Steele', and then perhaps on his most noted role as Sheriff Mort Metzger on forty-one episodes of 'Murder, She Wrote' between 1985 and 1996 opposite Angela Lansbury (who died earlier this month), 'Columbo', 'Cold Case', and 'The Bold and the Beautiful'. Masak was also considered to be one of the most famous salesman as he starred in the four most successful sales motivational films of all time - 'Second Effort' with Vince Lombardi, 'Time Management' with James Whitmore, 'How to Control Your Time' with Burgess Meredith and 'Ya Gotta Believe' with Tommy Lasorda, which he also wrote and Directed. He was also a sought after motivational speaker. He travelled country wide as spokesman for a major brewing company and for fifteen years was the voice of the Vlasic Pickle stork, and played Lou Costello in commercials for Bran News, McDonald's, and Tropicana Orange Juice. Frequently seen on the talk and game show circuit, Masak has been a celebrity panelist on such game shows as 'Password', 'Tattletales', 'Crosswits', 'Liar's Club', 'Showoffs' and 'Match Game'. He was a regular panelist on 'To Tell the Truth'.

* Bernard Atha - born 27th August 1928 and died 22nd October 2022, aged 94. Atha was an English Actor and Politician who notched up just twenty-seven screen acting roles in his career spanning just over two decades. His debut screen role came in the 1969 Ken Loach feature film 'Kes' and he would follow this up in 1971 with 'Family Life' for Ken Loach again with 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet'  in 1976 being his last feature film appearance. He also took parts in made for TV movies, mini-series and TV shows taking in the likes of 'Juliet Bravo', 'Airline', 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', 'All Creatures Great and Small', 'Coronation Street', 'Last of the Summer Wine' and 'Emmerdale Farm' being his final screen role in 1991. Atha served as Lord Mayor of Leeds from 2000 to 2001, and was a major figure in the arts and sport in West Yorkshire and elsewhere. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 HRH The Queen's Birthday Honours 'for services to the Arts and to the community in Leeds' having earlier been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1991 HRH The Queen's New Year Honours 'for services to Sport, particularly Sport for the Disabled'.

* Michael Kopsa - born 22nd January 1956 and died 23rd October 2022, aged 66. Kopsa was a Canadian Actor of film and TV who also lent his voice talents to numerous Japanese anime TV series that were dubbed into English. Of his 227 acting credits he scored his first as the voice of Char Aznable on forty-two episodes of 'Mobile Suit Gundam' between 1979 and 1980. His first feature film came in 1985 in the film 'Timing' then 'Hard Core Logo' in 1996, 'Profile for Murder' that same year with Lance Henriksen, 'Chain of Fools' in 2000 with Steve Zahn, Salma Hayek and Jeff Goldblum, 'The Proposal' in 2001 with Jennifer Esposito and Stephen Lang, '3000 Miles to Graceland' also in 2001 with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner, 'Stealing Sinatra' in 2003 with David Arquette and William H. Macy, 'Miracle' in 2004 with Kurt Russell, 'Fantastic Four' in 2005 with Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, 'Watchmen' in 2009 for Zack Snyder, 'Apollo 18' in 2011, 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' in 2011 too, 'Big Eyes' in 2014 with Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz, 'The Professor' in 2018 with Johnny Depp with 'American Badger' in 2019 being his final feature film role. In the intervening years there were numerous made for television movies, mini-series, voice over work and TV series including 'Highlander', 'The X-Files', 'The Outer Limits', 'Smallville', 'The Dead Zone', 'The 4400', 'Falcon Beach', 'Fringe', 'Supernatural', 'Arrow', 'Van Helsing' and 'Sacred Lies'. Aside from having a major influence in the Japanese anime medium, Kopsa also had big roles in North American animation, including playing Beast, aka Hank McCoy, in 'X-Men: Evolution', taking on the role of Samukai in 'Lego Ninjago', and the Iron Man villain known as the Controller in 'Iron Man : Armored Adventures'.

* Leslie Jordan - born 29th April 1955 and died 24th October 2022, aged 67. Jordan was an American Actor and singer who accumulated 134 screen acting roles throughout his career which began in 1986 on a single episode of 'The Fall Guy' and carried on right up until the present day. His first big screen role came in 1988 in the Richard Pryor starring 'Moving', and this was followed up by the likes of 'Missing Pieces' in 1991 with Eric Idle, 'Hero' in 1992 with Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis, 'Jason Goes to Hell : The Final Friday' in 1993, 'Goodbye Lover' in 1998 with Patricia Arquette and Don Johnson, 'Sordid Lives' in 2000 with Olivia Newton-John and Beau Bridges, 'Madhouse' in 2004 with Natasha Lyonne and Lance Henrikson, 'The Help' in 2011 with Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer, 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' in 2021 with Andra Day, 'Until We Meet Again' released earlier this year and 'Strangers in a Strange Land' currently in post-production awaiting a future release. In the meantime, there were also numerous roles on made for TV movies and television series including on ten episodes of 'The People Next Door', on sixteen of 'Reasonable Doubts', on sixteen of 'Bodies of Evidence', on twenty-seven of 'Hearts Afire', 'Star Trek : Voyager', 'Arli$$', 'Ally McBeal', 'Boston Public', 'Boston Legal', 'Ugly Betty', on ten episodes of 'Sordid Lives : The Series', 'Desperate Housewives', 'Supernatural', on twelve of 'Living the Dream', on twenty-two of 'The Cool Kids', on ten of 'American Horror Story', on seventeen of 'Will & Grace' and on thirty-six of 'Call Me Kat' most recently. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he gained viral fame by posting offbeat videos on Instagram, reaching 5.8 million viewers. All up Jordan was the recipient of four award wins (including the Primetime Emmy win for 'Will & Grace' for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series) plus another five nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. In April 2021, he published his autobiography titled 'How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived'.

* Jules Bass - born 16th September 1935 and died 25th October 2022, aged 87. Bass was an American Producer, Director, Writer and Composer who amassed fifty-eight credits as Producer, forty-four as Director, eight as Writer and thirty-eight for his soundtrack and composing work. His career launched with 130 episodes of 'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' in 1960 which he Directed and Produced. His subsequent Directing work followed mostly in the field of animation and stop-motion animation on such feature films as 'The Daydreamer' in 1966, 'Mad Monster Party' in 1967, 'The Wacky World of Mother Goose' also in 1967, '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' in 1973 and 'The Last Unicorn' in 1982. In the years in between he would helm numerous TV movies, videos, and TV series culminating with his final animated made for TV movie being 'The Wind in the Willows' in 1987. Whilst that may have been his final Directorial outing he continued with his Producer work serving as Executive Producer on 125 episodes of 'Thundercats' between 1985 and 1989, then as Consulting Producer on twenty-five episodes of 'Thundercats' between 2011 and 2012 and then again as Consulting Producer on twenty-eight of 'ThunderCats Roar' in 2020. Bass wrote the lyrics for many of the films he Directed, collaborating with composer Maury Laws. With Laws, he wrote songs performed by Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Mickey Rooney, John Huston, Roddy McDowall, Vincent Price, Phyllis Diller, Boris Karloff, and the Vienna Boys' Choir. Bass also adapted the verse of J. R. R. Tolkien, approved by the Tolkien estate, into musicalised lyrics for the first completed film adaptation of 'The Hobbit', in 1977 which he also Directed and Produced and for which he won the Peabody Award and was a nominee for a Hugo Award too. He later authored a series of children's books, based around the character of 'Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon' and 'Cooking with Herb'. He also wrote fiction for adults including 'Headhunters', which was adapted into the 2011 Selena Gomez feature, 'Monte Carlo'.

* Leonie Forbes - born 14th June 1937 and died 25th October 2022 aged 85. Forbes was a Jamaican Actress who notched up thirty-seven screen acting roles during her career which launched on the made for TV movie 'A World Inside' in 1962. Her first big screen role, albeit uncredited, came in 1963 in '80,000 Suspects', and she would follow this up with the likes of 'Club Paradise' in 1986 with Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole and Rick Moranis, 'Milk and Honey' in 1988, 'What My Mother Told Me' in 1995 which she also wrote, 'Shattered Image' in 1998 with William Baldwin, 'A Winter Tale' in 2007 with 'It's a Family Affair' in 2016 being her final big screen offering. In the meantime and since there were also appearances on TV series including 'Z Cars', 'Dixon of Dock Green', 'Public Eye', 'South of the Border', 'The Orchid House' and 'Top Boy' as recently as 2019 and that being her final screen role. She also joined the newly formed Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) in 1959 as a radio announcer, then worked as a writer for BBC Caribbean in the UK, then acted in a number of radio dramas for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation between 1968 and 1970 and in 1972 was appointed as head of Radio Two for the JBC FM service later becoming overall Director of radio broadcasting in 1976. In 1980, Forbes was made an Officer of the Order of Distinction for her work.

With twenty deaths reported this month from the film and television community at large, that community is just a little bit poorer as a result. As many of us the world over are now learning to live with COVID, and as life reverts almost back to normalcy, we should all, however, continue to be cautious by remembering the basic principles that continue to be advocated and together we can all beat this thing and keep on top of it. Stay safe and remain healthy wherever you are in the world. R.I.P. you screen legends.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-