Birthday's to share this week : 6th - 12th March 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Matthew Vaughn does on 7th March - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 45, 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 6th March

• Rob Reiner - Born 1947, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Tom Arnold - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Alan Davies - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality

Monday 7th March

• Bryan Cranston - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Peter Sarsgaard - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor Producer
• Matthew Vaughn - Born 1971, turns 45 - Director | Producer
• Rachel Weisz - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 8th March

• Freddie Prinze Jnr. - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Micky Dolenz - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• James Van Der Beek - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor
• Aidan Quinn - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor

Wednesday 9th March

• Oscar Isaac - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Singer
• Juliette Binoche - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress

Thursday 10th March

• Olivia Wilde - Born 1984, turns 32 - Actress | Producer
• Sharon Stone - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actress | Producer
• Jon Hamm - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Chuck Norris - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Rafe Spall - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor
• Paul Haggis - Born 1953, turns 63 - Director | Producer | Writer

Friday 11th March

• Terrence Howard - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Jerry Zucker - Born 1950, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Johnny Knoxville - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Peter Berg - Born 1964, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Actor | Writer
• Anton Yelchin - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actor

Saturday 12th March

• Aaron Eckhart - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Rob Cohen - Born 1949, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Liza Minelli - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actress | Singer

Matthew de Vere Drummond was born Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn, in London, England to mother Kathy Ceaton who passed away in mid-2013 and . . . here's where it gets complicated! His father was believed to be the American Actor Robert Vaughn following an affair with his mother. Before a paternity investigation was carried out, Robert Vaughn sought for the young lad to bear his surname and so from birth Matthew Vaughn was it. That subsequent investigation in fact revealed that the young lad's true father was George de Vere Drummond - an English aristocrat and Godson of King George VI. As a consequence of all of this, Matthew goes by the de Vere Drummond name in his personal life and by the Vaughn name in his professional life. Matthew was educated at the prestigious independent boys and girls boarding school - Stow School - in Stow, Buckinghamshire. Taking a gap year before university, he travelled the world and ending up in Los Angeles found work assisting a Director. Following his gap year he returned to England and attended University College, London, but dropped out after a matter of weeks.

Having been bitten by the film bug, he returned to LA after dropping out of university to begin his career in the movie business. His first foray in to the world of film was as Producer on a little known thriller in 1996 called 'The Innocent Sleep' which starred Michael Gambon, Rupert Graves and John Hannah. Having forged a close friendship with Guy Ritchie in the meantime, Vaughn went onto Produce Ritchie's critical and financially successful films - 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and then 'Snatch' with 'Swept Away' thereafter which he probably wishes had been well & truly swept away! 'Mean Machine' can along in the meantime which he also Produced with Guy Ritchie and starring many of those names from the two aforementioned films, including Vinnie Jones in the lead role.

His Directorial debut came in 2004 with 'Layer Cake' which he also Produced, and starring Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Michael Gambon, Ben Whishaw and Sienna Miller. The film was nominated for several awards and Vaughn picked up the Empire Award for Best British Director on his first such outing.

'Stardust' came next in 2007 which he Directed, Wrote and Produced and which starred a Who's Who of A-List acting talent including Ian McKellen, Robert De Niro, Peter O'Toole, Mark Strong, Henry Cavill, Rupert Everett, Ricky Gervais, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Flemyng, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes and Sienna Miller. The film picked up five award wins and six other nominations and made US$136M off its US$89M budget. After this he Produced 2009's British vigilante revenge thriller 'Harry Brown' with Michael Caine in the title role.

A year later came 'Kick-Ass' which he again Directed, Produced and wrote the Screenplay for based on the comic book of the same name, and which helped launch the career of eleven year old wise cracking gun totting Chloe Grace Moretz, and which also starred Mark Strong and Nicolas Cage. The film was marred by its use of graphic violence and profanity but it gelled with audiences (including this Reviewer!) making US$97M from its US$30M production budget, and along the way it picked up sixteen award wins and 61 further nominations. Vaughn also served as Producer on the 2013 sequel 'Kick-Ass 2' which fared less well as the Box Office bringing home just US$61M, but off a slightly reduced budget. He also Produced the video game spin-off.

That same year in 2010 he Produced and Wrote 'The Debt' which John Madden Directed and starred Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson. 'X-Men : First Class' in 2011 saw a return to the Directors chair with a writing credit too on this fifth film in the 'X-Men' franchise taking the story back to the 1960's and the origin of 'The X-Men' and 'The Brotherhood of Mutants' with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender in the younger Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen roles respectively as Charles Xavier and Magneto respectively. With an ensemble cast the film made US$354M off its US$140M budget and so was deemed a critical and commercial success. Vaughn also gained a further Writing credit on 2014's follow-up 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' which made US$750M globally.

2015 saw 'Kingsman : The Secret Service' based on the comic book of the same name which again saw Vaughn serve as Director, Producer and Writer, and off a budget of US$81M brought home US$415M and launching the career of Taron Egerton in the process, taking a much needed change of direction for Colin Firth and staying true to form Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine in strong supporting roles. A sequel is in the works with filming due to begin in April of this year with a release date of June 2017 announced. Vaughn is again writing the Screenplay and is believed to be Directing once again.

He served as Producer on the 2015 Marvel reboot of 'Fantastic Four', as Producer on the about to be released 'Eddie the Eagle' with Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken, and 'I Am Pilgrim' announced with Vaughn taking on Director and Producer duties with a release date yet to be finalised.

All up Vaughn has twenty Producer credits to his name, seven Director credits and seven as Writer, and so far en route he has garnered five award wins and another 15 nominations. He often calls upon Mark Strong, Dexter Fletcher and Jason Flemyng to star in his films and he dropped out of 'Thor', 'Casino Royale' and 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' for which he was slated to Direct. Vaughn also has his own Production Company 'Marv Films' which he founded in 2004. He married German Supermodel Claudia Schiffer in 2002 with whom he has three children - Casper Matthew (born in 2003), Clementine (born in 2004) and Cosima Violet (born in 2010).

Matthew Vaughn - favoured genre is clearly the comic book adaptation, was Best Man to Guy Ritchie when he married Madonna, has made some classic films which have been referenced here both recently and in the past, and looks set to continue doing so. Keep doing what you do best Matthew, and we'll keep watching . . . and writing! Happy Birthday to you - from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

The Odeon Online Book Review : The Elephant to Hollywood by Michael Caine.

Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, also known as Michael Caine, has written a few books and I have just finished reading his second autobiography titled 'The Elephant to Hollywood'. This was published in 2010 so it has been on the shelves for a few years now and sort of follows up his 1992 autobiography 'What's It All About?', fills in the blanks, and gives us a very personal account of the mans life. Back in the mid-90's Caine was at a point in his career where he thought he was largely done - his movie star status was beginning to shine less brightly and the big roles that had given him his movie stardom were no longer coming thick and fast. He had almost resigned himself to his fate of retiring to the English countryside, tending to his beloved gardens and spending out his days with his close knit family and friends.

Of course it didn't work out that way, and as we know Caine is still a jobbing Actor and still going strong appearing in many notable films in the last twenty or so years - small independents, mega budget action blockbusters and those in between, some of which have been highly acclaimed for his performances. Those include work with Christopher Nolan on the 'Batman' trilogy, 'The Prestige', 'Inception' and more recently 'Interstellar', and of course his Oscar winning turn in 'The Cider House Rules'. Still in demand, he will turn 82 years of age in March this year and when he finished this book he had just celebrated his 77th birthday.

This is a great read I must say and a very easy read. His writing style is from the heart and he describes passionately the moments in time, the places, the people and the opportunities he has had with a funny, charming and honest account of his life. Growing up in the grittier side of London (which he returned to to make 'Harry Brown') he had an upbringing nonetheless where he was surrounded by close family, caring and loving parents and a sense of community despite the hardships and the advent of the second world war.

Knowing from a fairly young age that he wanted to be in the movie business he struggled for many years to get a foothold, gain some recognition and secure parts that would move him forward. After his obligatory two years of National Service (which he also has some fond memories of) he did though have a great time in the late 50's going into the swinging 60's and as a result forged life long friendships with the likes of Sean Connery, Terrence Stamp, Stanley Baker, Roger Moore and the like. 1964 gave him his big break in 'Zulu' and he has never looked back. Those early years growing up and trying desperately to get a break are described in colourful detail, together with the girls, the clubs, the parties, the frustrating bit-parts and his own struggles to remember his lines, combat his nerves and overcome his fears when he did get in front of the camera.

Once he had arrived on the scene and was increasingly cast in bigger films and lead roles we are given an insiders view of Hollywood - the glitz, the glamour, the people, the movers & shakers, the movie business, the restaurants, bars & clubs and how it has changed and evolved over the many years he has been going too & fro. It's a fascinating insight that we rarely get to see or hear about - particularly from the perspective of someone living there in the latter end of the 20th Century.

After his early success with the likes of 'Alfie', 'The Ipcress File' and its two follow ups 'Funeral in Berlin' and 'Billion Dollar Brain' , 'The Italian Job', 'Get Carter' and 'The Man Who Would Be King' he made some duds it would be fair to say, taken on mostly for the chance to travel or to pay for a house extension - 'The Hand' and 'The Swarm' as notable standouts. His film choices and the Actors, Directors and Producers he has worked with are also laid out for us here in great detail too including what went on in front and behind the cameras, on-set and off it, and the necessities of an acting career that go on long after the film shoot has finished.

Throughout the book he seems to have always been very grounded, deeply appreciative of the circumstances that his acting career and its success has brought him, a firm believer in friendships and relationships, and never losing sight of his humble beginnings and his roots back in London's The Elephant & Castle. He is a family man first and foremost and bestows the most importance on his wife Shakira (married now for 40 years), his daughters Natasha and Dominique and his grandchildren, and his home in rural England and in it his love of gardening, cooking and sharing it with his nearest and dearest.

Reading the book you can't help think that he has had a privileged life, but, it is entirely of his own making, and it wasn't always that way. He was over 30 years of age when 'Zulu' came out, and his ongoing career success for the following 50 years has come about because of his own conviction, love for his craft and always keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground without succumbing to the excesses of Hollywood that we see all too often today.

As he gets older he mourns the passing of his dear friends that helped him along the way or have played a part in his life, the passing of the old Hollywood that he knew and loved so much and the impact that society is having on the less fortunate younger generation. That said he balances that with the new talent emerging in films which he continues to be fortunate enough to work with, his gratitude for the opportunities still afforded him, and the love and respect he still has for his chosen vocation in life.

The winner of two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, two BAFTA's and countless other wins and nominations as well as a Knighthood in 2000, Sir Michael Caine's 'The Elephant to Hollywood' is a heartfelt, funny and insightful read!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-