Birthday's to share this week : 18th-24th September 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jon Bernthal does on 20th September - 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 18th September

• Jada Pinkett Smith - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jason Sudeikis -  Born 1975, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Mark Romanek - Born 1959, turns 57 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Tim McInnerny - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor

Monday 19th September

• Adam West - Born 1928, turns 88 - Actor
• David McCallum - Born 1933, turns 83 - Actor
• Jeremy Irons - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor
• Paul McGuigan - Born 1963, turns 53 - Director | Producer
• Jimmy Fallon - Born 1974, turns 42 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actor | Singer  

Tuesday 20th September

• Jon Bernthal - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor
• Gary Cole - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor
• George R.R. Martin - Born 1948, turns 68 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Sophia Loren - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress | Singer  

Wednesday 21st September

• Jerry Bruckheimer - Born 1943, turns 73 - Producer
• Stephen King - Born 1947, turns 69 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Bill Murray - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Ethan Coen - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• David Wenham - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Luke Wilson - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  

Thursday 22nd September

• Nick Cave - Born 1957, turns 59 - Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor
• Scott Baio - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Tom Felton - Born 1987, turns 29 - Actor | Director
• Billie Piper - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer  

Friday 23rd September

• John Woo - Born 1946, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Jason Alexander - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Alex Proyas - Born 1963, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Anthony Mackie - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer   

Saturday 24th September

• Brad Bird - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor

Jonathan Edward Bernthal was born in Washington D.C., USA, to mother Joan Marx and father Eric Lawrence Bernthal - a lawyer with Latham & Watkins - the world's highest grossing and one of the most prestigious law firms. He has two brothers - Thomas and Nicholas. After High School, he attended Skidmore College - a private independent arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1999, before relocating himself to the Moscow Arts Theatre School in Russia, during which time he played semi-professional baseball as a catcher while studying his chosen craft. After this he attended the American Repertory Theatre at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University where he graduated from in 2002 with a Masters of Fine Arts Degree.

Since 2002 Bernthal has performed in over thirty Off-Broadway Plays, many with his own Theatre Company - Fovea Floods. He gained his first small screen role in 2002 in a single episode of 'Law and Order : Criminal Intent' with the next few years bringing further television series work on the likes of 'Without a Trace', 'Dr. Vegas', 'Boston Legal', 'Jonny Zero', 'C.S.I. : Miami' and 'How I Met Your Mother'. His first film role came in 2002 with 'Mary/Mary' and then in 2004 with 'Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding' with Mila Kunis and then television movie 'Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman' with Bryan Brown. 

2006 brought Oliver Stone's 'World Trade Centre' with Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena and Michael Shannon, and then 'The Air I Breathe' and 'Day Zero' in 2007, 'Coutrroom K', 'Bar Starz', 'A Line in the Sand' and 'Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian' closed out the decade.  From 2006 to 2007 running for just one season over nineteen episodes was 'The Class', and then rom 2009 to 2010 for one season over thirteen episodes was 'Eastwick' based on 'The Witches of Eastwick' book and film of the same name.

The new decade saw Roman Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer' with Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Wilkinson, 'Date Night' with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, 'Rampart' with Woody Harrelson and Sigourney Weaver, 'Snitch' with Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon, and then Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, and 'Grudge Match' with Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro.

During this period of escalating film roles there were also further television appearances on 'Numb3rs', 'The Pacific', 'Harry's Law' and 'Robot Chicken', plus the role that almost certainly put Bernthal on the map, as Shane Walsh on the first twenty episodes across the first two seasons of AMC's groundbreaking 'The Walking Dead' from 2010-2012. The show's seventh season is soon to go to air in the US.

David Ayer's 'Fury' in 2014 with Brad Pitt, Michael Pena and Shia LaBeouf came next with 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl', 'Sicario' with Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt, and then 'We Are Your Friends' with Zac Efron. Further television series followed including the mini-series 'Show Me a Hero' with Oscar Isaac and Alfred Molina, the animated series 'SuperMansion' to which Bernthal lends his voice talents with Bryan Cranston amongst others, and then as Frank Carter/Punisher on 'Daredevil' based on the Marvel Comics character for which Bernthal is to get his own spin-off series of 'Punisher' in 2017.

Up next are several film appearances in 'Viena and the Fantomes', and 'The Accountant' with Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick both due later this year. Currently filming is 'Sweet Virginia' for a 2017 release with Imogen Poots, 'Pilgrimage' with Tom Hollander and Richard Armitage in post-production, as is 'Shot Caller', Edgar Wright's 'Baby Driver' with Kevin Spacey, John Hamm and Jamie Foxx, and 'Wind River' with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olson.

Including these, all up Bernthal has 51 Acting credits to date, and he has three award nominations including Best Male Breakout Performance for 'The Walking Dead'. He married Erin Angle in September 2010 with whom he has three children - Henry (born in 2011), Billy (born in 2013) and Adeline (born in 2015). His brother Nicholas is an orthopaedic surgeon at UCLA with whom he also runs a not-for-profit company 'Drops Fill Buckets' which describes its credo as an 'impact driven, entrepreneurial approach to making a difference'. His other brother Tom is a three time Emmy Award winning Producer for NBC, and CEO of a business consulting company.

Jon Bernthal - plays tough, physical muscular roles because he's a tough, physical muscular looking kinda guy; he has had his nose broken thirteen times at the last count; is immensely talented and will turn his hand to any genre and because of it is increasingly in demand and his star very much on the rise. We'll keep watching Jon, if you keep doing what your best at - keeping us entertained with gritty realism! Happy 40th Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 14th - 20th December 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Brad Pitt does, on 18th December - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 or 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 14th December

• Sophie Monk - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actress
• Rebecca Gibney - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress

Monday 15th December

• Don Johnson - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Alex Cox - Born 1954, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Writer

Tuesday 16th December

• James Mangold - Born 1963, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ben Cross - Born 1947, turns 67 - Actor
• Shane Black - Born 1953, turns 53 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor
• Benjamin Bratt - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Miranda Otta - Born 1967, turns 47 - Actress

Wednesday 17th December

• Milla Jojovich - Born 1975, turns 39 - Actress | Singer
• Giovanni Ribisi - Born 1974, turns 40 - Actor
• Bill Pullman - Born 1953, turns 61 - Actor
• Eugene Levy - Born 1946, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Bernard Hill - Born 1944, turns 780 - Actor
• Peter Farrelly - Born 1956, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director

Thursday 18th December

• Brad Pitt - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Steven Spielberg - Born 1946, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ray Liotta - Born 1954, turns 60 - Actor | Producer
• Casper Van Dien - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Steve Austin - Born 1964m turns 50 - actor | Producer | WWF Wrestler
• Keith Richards - Born 1943, turns 71 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Robson Green - 1964, turns 50 - Actor | Television Personality | Extreme Fisherman
• Rachel Griffith - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actress
• Katie Holmes - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress | Producer

Friday 19th December

• Jennifer Beals - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actress
• Jake Gyllenhaal - Born 1980, turns 34 - Actor | Producer

Saturday 20th December 

• Jonah Hill - Born 1983, turns 31 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Todd Phillips - Born 1970, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Jenny Agutter - Born 1952, turns 62 - Actress

William Bradley Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri and is the eldest of brother Douglass and sister Julie. His mother, Jane Etta Hillhouse was a school counsellor, and father William Alvin Pitt was a trucking company manager. He attended Kickapoo High School where he was an active participant in golf, swimming, tennis and the school debating society. After graduating from school he attended the University of Missouri majoring in journalism and advertising. Two weeks before graduating he left to relocate to California, to Los Angeles where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs to sustain himself. 

During his early career in Los Angeles toward the end of the 80's Pitt struggled to establish himself. In 1987 he had uncredited roles in 'No Way Out', 'No Mans Land' and 'Less Than Zero' as well as TV appearances in 'Another World', 'Growing Pains', 'Dallas' and '21 Jump Street'. His first leading film role came in 1988 in 'The Dark Side of the Sun' although the film was not released for another ten years - as being a Yugoslavian/US co-production it was mothballed due to the war in Croatia. In 1989 he had support roles in 'Happy Together' and 'Cutting Class', and a handful of other television appearances.

The early 90's brought TV Movie 'Too Young To Die' which gave him some acclaim followed by 'The Image' and 'Across The Tracks' in 1991 and six episodes of the short-lived 'Glory Days'. His breakout role though was in Ridley Scott's 'Thelma & Louise' opposite Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in 1991 and charted him on a course as a bonafide sex symbol. That year came too 'Johnny Suede' and 'Cool World' the year after. Robert Redford cast him in 'A River Runs Through It' that was described by one critic as 'career defining'.

'Kalifornia' followed in 1993 and a small part in 'True Romance'. As the mid-90's approached so Pitt's career notched up to top gear with 'Interview with the Vampire' in 1994 and then 'Legends of the Fall' for which he garnered his first Golden Globe nomination. 1995 saw him team up with Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow in David Fincher's 'Seven' which brought much critical and Box Office acclaim. That same year Terry Gilliam cast him with Bruce Willis in the SciFi '12 Monkeys' where he was lauded for his performance which in turn won him his first Golden Globe Award and his first Academy Award nomination.

In the latter half of the 90's there was 'Sleepers' with Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman; then 'The Devil's Own' with Harrison Ford; then 'Seven Years in Tibet' with David Thewlis, and 'Meet Joe Black' with Anthony Hopkins. Closing out the decade he worked with David Fincher again on the now cult-classic 'Fight Club' with Edward Norton.

2000 saw Guy Ritchie's 'Snatch' in which Pitt almost steals the show with his broad gypsy accent in this boxer diamond heist film. This was followed up by 'The Mexican' with Julia Roberts; 'The Spy Game' reuniting him with Robert Redford again, and then in 2001 Pitt was cast in the remake of the 60's Rat Pack film of the same name 'Ocean's Eleven' with an ensemble cast including Clooney, Damon, Garcia, Gould, Cheadle and Roberts. This was well received by critics and Box Office alike eventually spawning two sequels - 'Ocean's Twelve' and 'Ocean's Thirteen' which between all three took a global Box Office haul of over US$1.1B. In the meantime Pitt starred as Achilles in 'Troy'.

'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' with future wife Angelina Jolie came along in 2005, with 'Babel' in 2006 opposite Cate Blanchett gaining a Golden Globe nomination for Pitt and a swag of other Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. What followed were more noteworthy roles too in the likes of 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford'; 'Burn After Reading' Directed by the Coen Brothers; 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' Directed by David Fincher again and starring Cate Blanchett with whom he had worked before too. This film received thirteen Academy Award nominations with Pitt receiving Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Academy Award nominations for his performance. Quentin Tarrantino cast him next up in 2009's 'Inglorious Basterds' which received eight Academy Award nominations.

'The Tree of Life' with Sean Penn won Director Terrence Malick the Palme D'or at Cannes, and 'Moneyball' received six Academy Award nominations including a Best Actor nod for Pitt. 'Killing Them Softly' followed, as did zombie apocalypse 'World War Z' grossing US$540M and giving Pitt his biggest commercial Box Office success to date off a US$190M budget. A sequel has been announced with Pitt's Production Company 'Plan B Productions' involved. '12 Years a Slave' and 'The Counsellor' saw him reunite with Ridley Scott in the latter film, and World War II actioneer 'Fury' is his most recent release so far earning US$181M off US$68M. He has lent his voice talents to 'Megamind', 'Happy Feet 2' and an episode of 'King of the Hill'.

Pitt has 71 acting credits to his name so far, thirty Producer credits, 54 Award wins and another 93 nominations. He shared the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture as Producer for '12 Years a Slave' and has four other nominations to his name; he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for '12 Monkeys' and has four other nominations; and won the BAFTA for Best Film again as Producer for '12 Years a Slave' and has four other nominations.

He had a relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow and was married to 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston from 2000 - 2005, and has been in a long term relationship with Angelina Jolie eventually marrying earlier this year. They have six children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.

Pitt is active in humanitarian, charitable and political causes including the support for 'Proposition 71' into stem-cell research; the 'ONE Campaign' combating AIDS and poverty; he has personally with Jolie donated US$1M to those effected by the crisis in Darfur; he founded the 'Make It Right' Foundation to build sustainable housing in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina; he and Jolie founded the 'Jolie-Pitt Foundation' to aid humanitarian causes around the world donating to 'Global Action for Children', 'Doctors Without Borders', 'The Daniel Pearl Foundation', the Haiti Earthquake fund and a U.N. Refugee agency supporting Pakistanis displaced by the Taliban. He also supports same sex marriage.

Brad Pitt - bonafide movie mega star, Actor, Producer, supporter of worthy causes, married to one of the world's most beautiful women, family man, diverse, daring and outspoken - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 23rd October 2014.

With Spring time in Australia warming up the cockles of our hearts - gradually - we are welcomed by another variety of filmic content with which to entice any moviegoer out in front of a big screen for action, drama, comedy, tears, laughter and not all necessary in the same outing! Nonetheless, we have war time drama as Uncle Sam goes head to head with 'Ze Germans'; we have a drum thumping chest beating push it to the limits no holds barred musical upbringing; then there is a family in mourning at the passing of the patriarch and the effects on those he leaves behind; a disgruntled psychologist travelling the world in search of himself; and a throw back to Beatlemania as it hits southern Spain!

As well as these there are still plenty of offerings out there in movie land doing the rounds from weeks gone by, that is sure to ensure that just about every taste is catered for. Whatever your choice in the coming week, drop me a line or two in the 'Comments' section following this or any Post, and let the movie going world know what you think! Don't be shy - your feedback is welcomed! Enjoy your film . . . or two!

FURY (Rated MA15+) - Written and Directed by David Ayer this is WWII action drama as seen from inside a Sherman Tank in the closing months of the war. 'Fury' is the name of the said Sherman Tank as helmed by Sergeant Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Brad Pitt) as he grinds across Europe with his crew of four others to close in on German territory with the end of the war in sight. Wardaddy is a grizzled, hardened, battle weary, violent calculating piece of work commanding his crew inside a reinforced armoured tin can to blitz their war through enemy lines at any cost and advance on Berlin - officers are killed in cold blood, towns and villages ripped apart, civilians mowed down in support of the Allies cause.

The four other grunts contained within 'Fury' all have their own story to tell starting off with new wet behind the ears recruit Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) commandeered to the front line in all his innocence having just about driven a desk as a typist up to the point of joining this lone tank command. He will very quickly grow a pair at the hands and mercies of Wardaddy, and with the bitter war battles that he will soon witness - innocence is often the first casualty of war . . . and here it comes! Then we have Boyd 'Bible' Swan (Shia LaBeouf) as the moral conscience of the troop but battle hardened enough to blast his foe to kingdom come when the need eventuates. Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis (Jon Bernthal) is the Italian thug, and Trini 'Gordo' Garcia (Michael Pena) is a Mexican machine gunner just about at the end of his tether with all he has seen and done from the confines of his tin can mobile home. In some respects this might be as claustrophobic as 'Das Boot', as we see the atrocities of war unfold through a post-box sized window with which to pinpoint the enemy and destroy them before they destroy you. Then there are the tiny confines in which five men haul across Germany in the last days of war and the close quarter living conditions that had to be endured. The story has lots of promise, but, will it live up to the realism we have seen in 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Enemy at the Gates', 'Platoon' or 'Apocalypse Now' - only you can decide!

WHIPLASH (Rated MA15+) - this Damien Chazelle Directed and Screen-written film has had much praise heaped upon it since its overseas release, and now it arrives at our screens. This tells the story of promising teenage jazz drummer Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller - who incidentally has played drums for real since his early teens and beats out the tunes in about 70% of the films musical numbers) and his enrolment in the acclaimed Shaffer School - New York's music conservatory. The story here surrounds Neyman and his drumming teacher/mentor/conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K.Simmons) who will drive Neyman so hard to the point of perfection that his hands will bleed and his mind all but cracks. The end game is a chance to compete in the schools prestigious Studio Band and so there is much as stake for Fletcher and Neyman, and only drumming perfection will be good enough! Lauded performances, tense drama, a gripping story and a great jazz soundtrack make this unlike just about any other sappy musical you have seen before!

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (Rated M) - it's good to see Jane Fonda back up on the big screen after an absence of a few years. Directed by Shawn Levy, here he has assembled a solid cast of a family brought together by Hillary Altman (Jane Fonda) as the newly widowed mother intent on grieving the recently deceased Husband and Dad with the immediate family for a week of family bonding and mourning. Judd Altman (Jason Bateman), Wendy Altman (Tina Fey), Paul Altman (Corey Stoll) and Phillip Altman (Adam Driver) all come together with Mom and various other past & present hangers-on, in the family home to spend a week in grief, and so embark on a journey of discovery about their grown-ups selves, their childhood, relationships, partners, work, life, play, and more. With such a cast and such an unassuming story this is likely to resonate in a down to earth, funny and considered way.

HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (Rated M) - with a cast comprising Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Jean Reno, Toni Collete, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard this film should have all the trappings of another comedic hit. Pegg plays our Hector - a disenchanted psychologist with all the trappings of success - great girlfriend Clara (Rosamund Pike), great apartment and great lifestyle, but, he is unhappy. And so off he trots around the world in search of himself and to contemplate his navel, while making observations on life, people and the circumstances he finds himself in during his travels. But even as he follows his dream and goes off in search of happiness he remains unhappy and unsatisfied with his lot, until he comes full circle and realises that his true happiness was in fact starring him in the face all the time! Sound predictable? And well it might be! Sometime you gotta go a long way to realise what you already knew!

LIVING IS EASY (WITH EYES CLOSED) (Rated M) - this is Spain's selection in the 2015 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film category and is set in 1966 when The Beatles were at the peak of their popularity. Antonio (Javier Camara) is an English/Latin Teacher who is such a fan of the Fab Four that he takes himself off on a road trip to Almeria in Spain's south-west in the hope of meeting John Lennon who is based there temporarily filming Richard Lester's 'How I Won The War'. En route he picks up hitchhikers - Juanjo (Francesc Colomer) and Belen (Natalia de Molina) and the unlikely trio go in search of their dreams and their own sense of freedom. Antonio's dream is to have John Lennon leave some of his lasting lyrics in the pages of his notebook, and to capture a rare moment in time when film-makers, Actors, Producers and obviously Singers flocked to 'Mini-Hollywood' to produce some of that era's classic films in sun-drenched locations and relatively inexpensively. This is based on a true story and the film title is taken from a lyric in the Lennon penned song 'Strawberry Fields Forever', which he wrote while in Almeria.

Five films to choose from this coming week that surely offer enough to get you out in front of a big screen one evening this week at least. Remember, that when you do let us know your thoughts and opinions, and share with your like minded film fanatics.

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-