Birthday's to share this week : 26th February - 4th March 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

James Wan does on 26th February (although some publications claim 27th) - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 40, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 26th February

• James Wan - Born 1977, turns 40 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Teresa Palmer - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress | Producer | Writer 

Monday 27th February

• Kate Mara - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress
• Timothy Spall - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer  

Tuesday 28th February

• John Turturro - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer  

Wednesday 1st March

• Roger Daltry - Born 1944, turns 73 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer
• Dirk Benedict - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Ron Howard - Born 1954, turns 63 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Zack Snyder - Born 1966, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Javier Bardem - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer  
• Lupita Nyong'o - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress

Thursday 2nd March

• Rebel Wilson - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Bryce Dallas Howard - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Jon Bon Jovi - Born 1962, turns 55 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Daniel Craig - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 3rd March

• George Miller - Born 1945, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Miranda Richardson - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actress
• Jessica Biel - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Producer  

Saturday 4th March

• Patsy Kensit - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress  
• Adrian Lyne - Born 1941, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Paul W.S. Anderson - Born 1965, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Len Wiseman - Born 1973, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer

James Wan was born in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia and is of Malaysian Chinese descent. He relocated to Perth in Western Australia at age seven and ultimately became an Australian citizen. He attended the Lake Tuggeranong College in the Australian Capital Territory for Years 11 and 12 students (aged 16 - 18 years), moved back to Perth and then relocated himself to Melbourne, Victoria where he attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. By this time his mind was made up that he wanted to be a film maker (a decision he had in fact come to at age eleven), and while studying he had already begun making short films and music videos. It was whilst at RMIT that he met fellow would-be film maker Leigh Whannel, with whom he would collaborate on a number of his feature length movie projects over the ensuing years.

Wan made his first feature length film in 2000 for which he also wrote the Screenplay - 'Stygian' which won the young Director the 'Best Guerrilla Film' Award at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. Following this Wan and Whannel had begun writing up a script for a horror film, and upon completion of the script they wanted to film an excerpt which they could then tout around the movie studios in the hope that a production company would pick up their story and run with it. That ten minute short film was titled 'Saw' and it was 2003. In 2004, having been picked up by a Lionsgate 'Saw' was released on an unsuspecting world and was an overwhelming success. Starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Tobin Bell and Leigh Whannel to minimise production costs, the film was shot rapidly at a cost of just US$1.2M. The film returned US$104M and spawned a franchise that has become the highest grossing horror franchise of all time that has seen all seven films gross worldwide US$874M off the back of a combined budget of US$64M. Wan served as Executive Producer on 'Saw II, III, IV, V, VI' and 'Saw 3D : The Final Chapter' released every year from 2005 through to 2010, and he also wrote the story for 'Saw III'. Wan is also Executive Producer on 'Saw : Legacy' currently in post-production for an October release this year and as Directed by the Spierig brothers.

2007 saw Wan Direct two films. The first was supernatural psychological horror 'Dead Silence' Written by Wan and Whannel and starring Ryan Kwanten and Donnie Wahlberg. The film received generally negative Reviews and just about recovered its US$20M budget outlay. This was followed up by action drama 'Death Sentence' - described by Wan as a 'raw and gritty, '70's styled revenge thriller' that starred Kevin Bacon as the protagonist with Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman, Kelly Preston and Leigh Whannel. This film also received generally unfavourable Reviews and recovered just US$17M of its US$20M production budget.

After serving as Executive Director on a string of 'Saw' sequels, Wan Directed the supernatural horror film 'Insidious' in 2010 that was written by Leigh Whannel, and starred Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey and Whannel. That film cost US$1.5M to make and returned US$97M ensuring its success as a franchise with 'Insidious : Chapter 2' being released in 2013. Again Directed by Wan that saw the cast from the first film return, on a budget of US$5M generating US$162M. 'Insidious : Chapter 3' was again Written by Whannel and Produced this time by Wan with Whannel on Directing duty for the first time. This film that served as a prequel to the previous two, was made for US$10M and returned US$113M. 'Insidious : Chapter 4' is currently in post-production for a release later this year and is Directed by Adam Robitel with Wan taking a Producer credit and Whannel Screenwriter and acting credits on the film.

Next up was supernatural horror film based on real events 'The Conjuring'. Recounting the story of the Perron family who experience increasingly disturbing events in their Rhode Island farmhouse in 1971 and paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who come to the assistance of the distressed Perron family. Starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson the film was a commercial and critical success taking US$318M from its US$20M budget, making it one of the highest grossing horror films of all time. 'The Conjuring 2' was released in 2016 as a sequel to that first film that saw Wan act as Director, Co-Producer and Co-Writer in this follow up set in 1977 as the Warren paranormal investigators (Farmiga and Wilson reprising) travel to London to investigate the case that became known as the 'Enfield Poltergeist'. That film returned US$321M from its US$40M budget costs.

In the meantime in 2014, there had been a spin-off prequel to the popular 'The Conjuring' film inspired by the doll named 'Annabelle' that had been recounted by Ed and Lorraine Warren during their investigations. Wan took a Producer role on 'Annabelle' that received less critical acclaim but nonetheless was a commercial success raising US$260M in Box Office receipts against a US$6.5M outlay. A follow up film is in post-production for an August release this year that focuses on the dollmaker and his wife and stars Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto, that is again Produced by Wan.

Taking a step aside from supernatural horror thrillers Wan Directed fast cars action drama film 'Furious 7' in 2015 starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou and Michelle Rodriguez. The film was a massive worldwide hit taking US$1.52B from its US$176M budget and standing currently as the sixth highest grossing film of all time, and the most successful in the franchise to date. 

Meanwhile Wan also had time to Produce supernatural horror 'Demonic' with Maria Bello in 2015, and in 2016 'Lights Out' with Teresa Palmer. He also Directed one episode of the rebooted television series 'MacGyver' and has served as Producer on sixteen episodes to date.

Next up for Wan is 'The Nun' which is a spin off film from the 'Annabelle' series which is a spin off film from 'The Conjuring' series and is currently in pre-production for a mid-2018 release with Wan Producing and Writing. Also in pre-production with filming due to commence soon is 'Aquaman' for the DC Extended Universe with Wan on Director duty and taking a Writing credit too. The film will star Jason Mamoa in the lead role with Nicole Kidman, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and Temuera Morrison all attached, and is due for release in October 2018. 'Mortal Kombat' has been announced for a reboot recently and Wan is set to Produce this remake of the 1995 initial video game adaptation offering.

All up Wan has seventeen Producer credits to his name, fourteen as Writer and thirteen as Director.  He also has ten award wins and nine other nominations under this belt. In 2011 he released his own graphic novel too written with Michael Nelson, 'Malignant Man' which 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights for in 2014. Wan is adapting his source material for the big screen, the adaptation of which he will Produce, with Brad Peyton signing on to Direct.

James Wan - wrote himself into the history books and redefined the genre with several hugely commercially and critically successful horror franchises, and an epic seventh film in a street racing heist fuelled action franchise, and, is about to launch a new stand alone ocean based Superhero as part of the DCEU. When he's not Directing, he's Producing or he's Writing and he's even been known to tackle all three at once! Clearly very much in demand and proving he can jump from his trademark scare the bejeezus out of us supernatural horror offerings to big budget epic fare, and back again. A very Happy 40th Birthday to you James, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 26th July - 1st August 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jason Statham does on 26th July - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 48, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 26th July

• Jason Statham - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Kevin Spacey - Born 1959, turns56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Jeremy Piven - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
• Mick Jagger - Born 1943, turns 72 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Writer | Producer | Actor
• Olivia Williams - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
• Kate Beckinsale - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress
• Sandra Bullock - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer
• Helen Mirren - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actress | Producer | Director

Monday 27th July

•  Julian McMahon - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
•  Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer

Tuesday 28th July

•  Randall Wallace - Born 1949, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer
•  Alexis Arquette - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actress

Wednesday 29th July

•  Stephen Dorff - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
•  David Warner - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actor

Thursday 30th July

• Arnold Schwarzenegger - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Bodybuilder | Politician
• Christopher Nolan - Born 1970, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer 
• Simon Baker - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Laurence Fishburne - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer
• Jean Reno - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor
• Richard Linklater - Born 1960, turns 55 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Frances de la Tour - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actress
• Hilary Swank - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Vivica A. Fox - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer

Friday 31st July

•  J.K.Rowling - Born 1965, turns 50 - Writer | Producer
• Michael Biehn - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer
• Wesley Snipes - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Dean Cain - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Saturday 1st August 

•  Sam Mendes - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
•  Jason Momoa - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer

Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England to mother Eileen Yates, a dancer, and father Barry Statham, a street vendor and lounge singer. The family moved to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk where growing up and influenced by the singing and dancing background in the family the young Jason and older brother Lee would play the drums and guitar respectively, with the former bashing away at his drum kit as he does now at crims, low-lifes and undesireables in his movies. Electing not to follow in his fathers footsteps Jason chose to learn martial arts, and then became interested in soccer - influenced here by Vinnie Jones whom he grew up with too - and he payed for his grammar school in the late 70's/early 80's. At the same time he also developed an interest in diving and perfected his skill off the ten metre platform. For 12 years he was a member of Britain's National Diving Squad having represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand in 1990 and ultimately gaining a world ranking of #12.

Whilst training at the National Sports Centre in London he was seen by the Sports Promoter Agency who signed him up as a sports model. He then went on to model for fashion label 'French Connection', but had to eventually finally follow in his fathers footsteps by selling fake perfumes and jewellery on street corners just to make ends meet. During this time he appeared in several music videos too including the likes of Brit Bands - 'The Shamen', 'The Beautiful South' and 'Erasure'.




While at 'French Connection' he was introduced to an aspiring Director, Guy Ritchie, who was searching for a fast talking, wise cracking, street smart vendor of dodgy goods for his planned robbery movie 'Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels' in 1998. Critically and commercially acclaimed the film put both Ritchie and Statham on the map, followed up in 2000 with 'Snatch' with Ritchie Directing again and starring his old mate Vinnie Jones with Brad Pitt and Benecio del Toro too. This film was also a critical and commercial success, unlike Statham's next offering 'Turn It Up' which was released that same year and cost US$13M to make but barely recouped 10% of that sum.

In 2001 he starred in John Carpenter's last Directorial outing to date 'The Ghosts of Mars' with Ice Cube, Pam Grier and Natasha Henstridge. That same year came 'The One' with Jet Li and then a remake of 1974's 'The Longest Yard' with 'Mean Machine' with Vinnie Jones once more. As Statham rose to action movie star status he was cast in the first of what would become a successful franchise with 'Transporter' spawning two sequels in 2005 and then 2008. Taking full ownership of his own stunts (as he has done in all films subsequently) he studied kung-fu, karate, jujitsu and kickboxing for this 2002 film, which has served him in good stead ever since.

Another remake came along in the meantime in 2003 with 'The Italian Job' with Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton and Charlize Theron. After a cameo appearance in Michael Mann's 'Collateral' with Tom Cruise there was 'Cellular' with Kim Bassinger and Chris Evans before 'Transporter 2', and 'Revolver' for Guy Ritchie again, 'London' and 'Chaos' in 2005. The next years saw another two movie outing with 'Crank' followed up with it's sequel in 2009 'Crank : High Voltage'. Meanwhile there was 'War' (aka 'Rogue Assassin') with Jet Li and the Uwe Boll Directed 'In the Name of the King', 'The Bank Job', the remake of Charles Bronson's 'The Mechanic' and then 'Transporter 3'.

Liking a franchise, 2010 saw Statham sign up for the first time with Sylvester Stallone and the action movie heroes of the 80's with the first instalment of 'The Expendables'. 2011 saw his lead role in 'The Mechanic', then 'Blitz' and 'Killer Elite' with Clive Owen and Robert De Niro. The follow up with Stallone came in 2012 with 'The Expendables 2' and then once more in 2014 with 'The Expendables 3', with 'Parker', 'Safe', 'Hummingbird', 'Homefront', 'Wild Card' and most recently 'Spy'. In 2013 Statham took a cameo appearance in 'Fast & Furious 6' setting the scene for a far more meatier role in 'Furious 7' released earlier this year and grossing a staggering US$1.51B.

Next up for Statham is a reprisal of his role with the sequel 'Mechanic : Resurrection' now in post-production for 2016, and 'Furious 8' due in 2017. The Actor has 43 credits to his name and just one award win for the 'Most Offensive Male Character' in his film 'Crank'. He was romantically linked to Model and Actress Kelly Brook from 1997 to 2004, and since 2010 has been dating Model and Actress Rosie Huntington-Whitley who most recently starred in George Miller's 'Mad Max : Fury Road'.

'The Stath' - Jason Statham - seemingly the King of the remake and franchise aficionado; kick ass action hero of a new generation; keeping it real old school style; keeping us entertained with relentless action, violence and bloodshed delivered with dead pan sardonic gravel voiced lines; and the owner of trademark two day stubble - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 2nd April 2015.

It's Easter week with a four day weekend looming, school holidays upon us again, and the twilight zone between Summer and Winter (well at least here in Australia!) is now officially here. Following last weeks mega haul of new cinematic releases, so the brakes have been applied somewhat with only a limited offering this week to tempt you out and get you sat firmly in front of a big screen.

For the week ahead then there is a franchise that keeps on rolling, the wheels keep on turning, and the needle keeps redlining as the stunts get more wild, whacky and like, WTF! In addition there is a French foreign language dramedyrom that sees a man potentially deported after a decade of cobbling a meagre existence together, and finally, an animated feature with some big names in front and behind the camera that bring this tale of the dead to life!

Three films all wildly different this week, but still plenty of content out there doing the rounds and on general release still. Whatever you decide to spend your cash seeing, share your views afterwards with our readers at Odeon Online and leave a comment after this or any other Post. Enjoy your film.

FAST & FURIOUS 7 (Rated M) - this franchise started revving its engines back in 2001 and since then is has grown into a hugely successful action franchise attracting big name stars, big marque cars, burning rubber, squealing brakes, twisted metal and more and more obscure plot lines, fast paced action, hot babes and meat heads to keep teenagers buckled in to their seats begging for more. The seven films have so far cost US$819M in budgeted production and marketing costs with this seventh instalment coming in at a hefty US$250M budget. In return however, the franchise, out of the first six films has delivered US$2.38B in Box Office receipts worldwide . . . not so bad really!

And so what does F&F7 hold in store? This time Directed by Aussie/Malaysian James Wan we once again have an all star cast that reunites the principle cast with some new talent - Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa and Ludacris are all there. This time it is Jason Statham as bad guy Deckard Shaw who is out for revenge on Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto) for the death of his brother Owen Shaw in the previous film, and so Toretto must reassemble his crew and ward off various other adversaries and plot twists and turns before the gang can finally hang up their keys and garage the car for a well earned rest. Of course in the meantime , you just know that we are in for a high octane thrill ride that will see vehicles mashed, cars trashed, bodies smashed and villains thrashed in epic scale and huge fast paced action set pieces. Promises to be a lotta fun and is sure to please the fans that have grown up with this franchise.

SAMBA (Rated M) - in 2011, French film-makers Oliver Nakache and Eric Toledano delivered us 'The Intouchables' that touched everyone's hearts and brought Omar Sy into the limelight. Fast forward to the present day and these two Directors have teamed up once more with Sy again for 'Samba' in which the former comedian is the Samba of the title - an illegal immigrant from Senegal who has been working lowly paid dead end jobs in Paris for the last ten years. His meagre earnings he sends back home to his family, and when he applies for French residency to do the right thing and make his existence legal he is turned down and hauled into detention where he is met by Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) - a volunteering aid worker who is on the rebound having suffered a nervous breakdown. Both characters are drawn together through their fractured lives, frustrations, anxieties and the warmth and friendship, love and understanding that unfolds between them as time progresses. Based on the struggle of illegal immigrants in France, this film has emotion, heart, humour and drama delivered by another strong performance from Sy and astute Direction from Nakache and Toledano.

THE BOOK OF LIFE (Rated PG) - this US$50M CG animated feature stars the voice talents of Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Ice Cube and Diego Luna amongst many others, and has Guillermo del Toro with a Producer credit. Based on the Mexican 'Day of the Dead' this romantic comedy follows three principle characters - Manolo (Diego Luna), and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) who are childhood buddies but who both hold  a flame for Maria (Zoe Saldana) . . . and who can blame them? When Manolo's and Joaquin's rivalry for Maria comes to the notice of Xibalba (Ron Perlman) and La Muerte (Kate del Castillo) the latter two being the rulers of the two worlds of the dead who devise a cunning plan to test each suitor to see who will rise victorious for Maria's affections. With high stakes at risk for our two rulers, and adventures aplenty for the eternal love triangle that will test them physically, mentally and emotionally across different worlds this is a colourful, funny, musical comedy drama romance all rolled into one exuberant package that is sure to please young & not so young viewers alike.

Three totally different offerings this week that all have something to offer its target audience, and are sure to please for varying reasons. With a four day weekend and school holidays there is no reason not to see a movie in the coming week and when you have share your thoughts with your fellow movie geeks at this Blog.

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-