Birthday's to share this week : 29th January - 4th February 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Isla Fisher does on 3rd February - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 41, 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 29th January

• Katherine Ross - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress
• Oprah Winfrey - Born 1954, turns 63 - Television Personality | Actress | Producer
• Heather Graham - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Isabel Lucas - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress
• Tom Selleck - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Edward Burns - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 30th January

• Gene Hackman - Born 1930, turns 87 - Actor
• Christian Bale - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor
• Vanessa Redgrave - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Tuesday 31st January

• Minnie Driver - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Singer  
• Portia de Rossi - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress
• Philip Glass - Born 1937, turns 80 - Composer | Musician | Songwriter
• Anthony LaPaglia - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer
• Dexter Fletcher - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Justin Timberlake - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer

Wednesday 1st February

• Terry Jones - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Linus Roache - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor
• Michael C. Hall - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Thursday 2nd February

• David Jason - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Gemma Arterton - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress | Singer  

Friday 3rd February

• Morgan Fairchild - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Singer
• Isla Fisher - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress
• Nathan Lane - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Saturday 4th February

• George A. Romero - Born 1940, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Patrick Bergin - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Gabrielle Anwar - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress
• Natalie Imbruglia - Bron 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter

Isla Lang Fisher was born in Muscat, Oman to Scottish parents - mother Elspeth Reid, a romance novelist and father Brian Fisher, a banker who worked in Oman for the United Nations at the time of her birth. The family moved back to their hometown of Bathgate, in Scotland when Isla was young and then to Perth in Western Australia at age six. There she attended Swanbourne Primary School and then the independent Methodist Ladies College. Whilst at school she appeared in several school productions including 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Her acting career kicked off at just nine years of age appearing in kids television shows 'Bay City' and 'Paradise Beach' as Robyn Devereaux which ran for two series over 260 episodes from 1993 through 1994, and was syndicated across eleven countries including the USA, UK and France. This in turn led to her being cast in the role of Shannon Reed in the hugely popular long running Australian soap opera 'Home and Away' in which she starred in 376 episodes from 1994 through to 1997. In the meantime, she published two best selling novels at age eighteen aimed at the teenage market - 'Bewitched' and 'Seduced by Fame' with the help of her mother. Had her acting career not taken off, she would happily have become a writer.

After exiting the cast of 'Home and Away', she enrolled at L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq - a school in Paris where the physical art of theatre is studied emphasising the body, movement and space as the entry point in theatrical performance. Armed with these skills she appeared in a number of UK pantomimes and in a number of stage plays travelling the country. She went on to roles in the ITV mini-series 'Oliver Twist' in 1999, then an episode on the BBC series 'Sunburn' and then in 2001 in the mini-series 'Attila' with Gerard Butler, Powers Booth, Steven Berkoff, Liam Cunningham and Tim Curry. In 2001 she gained her first major role in the German slasher horror film 'Swimming Pool' (aka 'The Pool') alongside James McAvoy. She followed this with her role as Shaggy's love interest as Mary Jane in 2002's live action adaptation of 'Scooby Doo'. The film received generally lacklustre Reviews but it grossed US$276M from its US$84M budget outlay.

The Australian comedy 'The Wannabes' followed in 2003 with a bit part in Scott Caan's Directing debut 'Dallas 362' alongside Scott Caan, Jeff Goldblum and Selma Blair. 'I Heart Huckabees' came next with an all star cast as Directed by David O. Russell, and then 'Wedding Crashers' with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson winning the Actress a Breakthrough Performance Award. 'London' followed with Chris Evans, Jason Statham and Jessica Biel, and then RomCom 'Wedding Daze' with Jason Biggs in 2006. Crime film 'Lookout' came next with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels, then comedy offering 'Hot Rod' and then the romantic dramedy 'Definitely, Maybe' with Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Kline, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Breslin. 'Confessions of a Shopaholic', another RomCom, closed out the decade with Fisher in the starring role alongside John Lithgow, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lynn Redgrave.

2010 brought 'Burke and Hare' - the black comedy Directed by John Landis and starring Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis in the title roles respectively. This was followed up by the RomCom 'Bachelorette' with Kirsten Dunst, Rebel Wilson and Lizzy Caplan, before Baz Luhrmann's epic retelling of 'The Great Gatsby' with Fisher starring as Myrtle Wilson beside Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Carey Mulligan and Jason Clarke. The film made US$351M at the Box Office from its US$105M investment and won 46 awards (including two Oscar's and two BAFTA's) and another 74 nominations. That same year, Fisher starred in 'Now You See Me' as Henley Reeves with Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. The film was a critical and commercial success, although Fisher was unable to reprise her role in the 2016 follow-up and was replaced by Lizzie Caplan.

The crime comedy 'Life of Crime' with Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins and Will Forte came along in 2013, and was followed up in 2015 by supernatural horror straight to video offering 'Visions'. A cameo role as herself in 'Klown Forever' in 2015 led to action comedy 'Grimsby' with Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson and Penelope Cruz. Tom Ford's acclaimed 'Nocturnal Animals' in late 2016 with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the critical and commercial failure 'Keeping Up with the Joneses' saw out 2016 and brings us up to date.

In the meantime, Fisher lent her voice talents to the animated features 'Horton Hears a Who!' in 2008, to 'Rango' in 2011, and to 'Rise of the Guardians' in 2012. She also has had appearances in several television series including 'Pilot Season', the animated 'Neighbors from Hell', 'Bored to Death', 'Arrested Development' and animated series 'Sofia the First' most recently.

All up, Fisher has 44 acting credits to her name, and she has thus far accumulated four award wins and ten nominations. She married to English Actor, Producer, Comedian and Screenwriter Sacha Baron Cohen having met at a party in Sydney, Australia in 2002. They were married in a Jewish ceremony in 2010 after Fisher converted to Judaism after three years of study in 2007. They have three children together - daughters Olive (born in 2008) and Elula (born in 2011) and son Montgomery (born in 2015). Fisher published her first solo written children's book 'Marge in Charge' in 2016.

Isla Fisher - voted on numerous 'Top' lists, often mistaken for friend Amy Adams; wanted to marry Elvis Presley when she was young even though he died in 1977 and she was born in 1976; often plays in RomCom's and comedies, but is also playing it straight in horrors, in crime dramas, in animated productions leaving only Sci-Fi on her list to tick off. Committed to her husband and her children, committed to her new religious beliefs, loves acting saying it is the greatest fun in the world and considers herself 'very Australian'. A child actress who has blossomed into a children's author, a leading lady, and an in demand supporting Actress, Happy Birthday to you Isla, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th March 2016.

With the 2015 film award season now well & truly done and the dust having settled on the recent Academy Awards and the BAFTA's and the Golden Globes before that, it is perhaps time to take a reflective look back at the top films of last year, and how they fared individually on both a critical and commercial level. So, in no particular order, here are the Top 12 films of last year if award wins, nominations and Box Office haul are anything to go by :

• THE REVENANT : 65 award wins | 135 nominations | 3 x Oscars, 5 x BAFTA's, 1 x SAG, 3 x Golden Globes and 1 x AACTA | US$430M Box Office | US$135M Budget
• THE BIG SHORT : 31 award wins | 66 nominations | 1 x Oscar and 1 x BAFTA | US127M Box Office | US$28M Budget
• THE MARTIAN : 30 award wins | 147 nominations | 2 x Golden Globes | US$627M Box Office | US$108M Budget
• THE HATEFUL EIGHT : 27 award wins | 86 nominations | 1 x Oscar, 1 x BAFTA and 1 x Golden Globe | US$146M Box Office | US$44M Budget
• THE DANISH GIRL : 26 award wins | 62 nominations | 1 x Oscar and 1 x SAG | US$54M Box Office | US$15M Budget
• SPOTLIGHT : 107 award wins | 112 nominations | 2 x Oscars, 1 x BAFTA, 1 x SAG  and 1 x AACTA | US$64M Box Office | US$20M Budget
• ROOM : 76 award wins | 115 nominations | 1 x Oscar, 1 x BAFTA, 1 x SAG and 1 x Golden Globe | US$24M Box Office | US$6M Budget
• BROOKLYN : 28 award wins | 126 nominations | 1 x BAFTA | US$53M Box Office | US$11M Budget
• CAROL : 56 award wins | 193 nominations | 2 x AACTA's | US$36M Box Office | US$12M Budget
• BRIDGE OF SPIES : 23 award wins | 73 nominations | 1 x Oscar, 1 x BAFTA and 1 x AACTA | US$165M Box Office | US$40M Budget
• MAD MAX : FURY ROAD : 170 award wins | 155 nominations | 6 x Oscars, 4 x BAFTA's, 1 x SAG and 10 x AACTA's | US$378M Box Office | US$150M Budget
• STAR WARS : THE FORCE AWAKENS : 17 award wins | 53 nominations | 1 x BAFTA | US$2.05B Box Office | US$200M Budget

This just goes to show that critical acclaim and award wins does not always equate to Box Office success and bums and seats, and neither is the opposite true. Only you as the paying cinema goer can make that determination. 

And so with that in mind, what of this weeks latest release films. First up we have two brothers separated in early childhood and individually put up for adoption only to be reunited thirty years later with potentially world shattering consequences - it's gonna be a laugh a minute! Also new this week is a horror thriller centered around a trio of survivalists in an underground bunker living in fear of what lurks above the ground, until one of them hatches a plan to escape! The  we have a doco drama recounting the recent Olympic adventures of an Aussie aerial skier and her determination to go where no woman has gone before; and closing out the week there is a German film about a Spanish girl, four young men, a bank job, a getaway car all caught in a single tracking shot!

With four new and four very different films to choose from this week, and a whole heap of other great cinema content still out on general release, there is no excuse not to get yourself in front of a big screen. When you have done so, share your thoughts and opinions with your like minded fellow readers here at Odeon Online and leave a Comment below this or any other Post - we'd love to hear from you! In the meantime, enjoy your movie!

GRIMSBY (Rated MA15+) - aka 'The Brothers Grimsby' Stateside, was Written, Produced and stars Sacha Baron Cohen and is Directed by Louis Leterrier, and judging by the shorts I have seen of this film has SBC's gutter humour of his previous outings, although perhaps just a little more plot substance this time around. Released in the UK on 24th February, 'Grimsby' gets its Australian and US release on the same day, and so far critics have only had average things to say about this comedy action film, so I guess it is just as well that it has a running time of just 83 minutes!

The film tells the story of two brothers separated at birth and both consequently being forced into very different directions in life. Norman 'Nobby' Butcher (Sacha Baron Cohen) lives in the large seaport town of Grimsby in Lincolnshire, England and is a bona fide beer swilling football hooligan, father of eleven, and the elder brother of Sebastian (Mark Strong) - one of the best MI6 agents and assassins in the business. Since their separation and subsequent adoption by two different families Nobby has spent close to thirty years tracking down his younger sibling. Upon learning of his whereabouts, Nobby tracks down Sebastian unaware that his young brother is an MI6 agent, and that he has also just uncovered a plot that puts the world in grave danger. When Sebastian has to go on the run and deep undercover having been wrongly accused, he comes to realise too that to save the world he needs to enlist the support of his hapless older brother, with what I'm sure will be dire consequences for everyone concerned . . . and the world as we know it! Also starring Rebel Wilson, Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (Rated M) - if you are thinking this is the follow up to 2008's found footage film 'Cloverfield' then you are mistaken, although also Produced by J.J.Abrams and 'Bad Robot Productions' he says that this is a 'blood relative' and a 'spiritual successor' to that earlier film but certainly not a sequel. In his Directorial debut, Dan Trachtenberg, shot this for about US$5M only, and stars a very limited cast that consists John Goodman as Howard Stambler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Michelle and John Gallagher Jnr. as Emmet - three people living in an underground bunker which is where the majority of the film takes place. Michelle does not know how she wound up there although knows she survived a car accident, and believes she may have been abducted by a survivalist and that the world underwent a chemical attack rendering the outside environment uninhabitable. She doesn't know what to believe, but plans her escape to discover what truth really lies above the surface despite the unknown dangers she may face.

THE WILL TO FLY (Rated G) - made for just US$1M and Produced and Directed by Katie Bender and with Leo Baker as Director and Cinematographer this tells the true story of Australian Lydia Lassila who as a young gymnast had her sights set on the Olympics. But, struck by injuries and missed opportunities that chance was missed, however, aerial skiing gave her another stab at her Olympic dream, and so through her own courage, determination and overcoming adversity she came back to win the 2010 Winter Olympics with a world beating score that still holds today. Fuelled by her success she was determined to reach still greater heights and so returned to the 2014 Winter Olympics to perform the most complex aerial acrobatic manoeuvre usually only the domain of her male counterparts - the quadruple twisting triple somersault. An inspirational story of determination, vision and strength from a four time Olympian who never gave up on her dream.

VICTORIA (Rated MA15+) - Directed, Produced and Written by Sebastian Schipper, this German production has garnered much international acclaim and awards including at the  65th International Berlin Film Festival where it took out the Silver Bear Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in Cinematography. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of this film is that it was filmed in one continuous tracking shot although it took three attempts to do so. With a script that was just twelve pages long, a cast of largely unknowns, and dialogue (much of it improvised) that is realistic as any likely to be seen on film this year. The story surrounds Victoria (Laia Costa) a young Spanish girl who has recently moved to Berlin. After partying all night until 4:00am she meets up with four young guys - Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuss who ask her if she wants to join them as they hit the town, she agrees, but little does she know the plans the men have for a bank robbery and for her to the the getaway driver. Whilst denied entry to the most recent Academy Awards for the Foreign Language Film category because of its high percentage of English dialogue, this film could already be the best foreign language offering of the year for a whole multitude of reasons.

Four films new this week and plenty more still out there on general release to tempt you to your local movie house. Share your views, keep the movies alive and I'll see you at the Odeon sometime in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-