Birthday's to share this week : 13th - 19th September 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Tom Hardy does on 15th September - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 38 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 13th September

• Colin Trevorrow - Born 1976, turns 39 - Director | Producer | Writer 
• Frank Marshall - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer  
• Jacqueline Bisset - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actress

Monday 14th September

• Andrew Lincoln - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor 
• Sam Neill - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Director | Producer
• Joon-ho Bong - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Tuesday 15th September

• Tom Hardy - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Tommy Lee Jones - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Oliver Stone - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor  

Wednesday 16th September

• Mickey Rourke - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor | Writer  
• Amy Poehler - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer 

Thursday 17th September

• Paul Feig - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Bryan Singer - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Neill Blomkamp - Born 1979, turns 36 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Baz Luhrmann - Born 1962, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Friday 18th September 

• Jason Sudeikis - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor | Writer
• Tim McInnerny - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
• Jada Pinkett Smith - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer 

Saturday 19th September

• Adam West - Born 1928, turns 87 - Actor
• Jeremy Irons - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• David McCallum - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actor

Edward Thomas Hardy was born in the London suburb of Hammersmith to mother Elizabeth Anne Barrett, an artist and painter, and father Edward Hardy, a novelist and comedy writer. He attended Tower House School, an independent junior boys school, and then Reed's School an independent boys secondary school in Cobham, Surrey, and then onto Richmond Drama School and the Drama Centre London. At age 21 he won a modeling competition gaining a short contract with the Models One agency. His late teens and early 20's were spent fighting drug and alcohol dependency and delinquency , and he says that after seeking treatment in 2002 it was his addictions that ended his five year marriage to Sarah Ward in 2004. He has however, been sober since 2003.

His small screen debut came in 2001, securing the role of Private John Janovec in Spielberg's WWII epic series 'Band of Brothers', and that same year he gained his big screen debut too in Ridley Scott's Somalia war torn actioner 'Black Hawk Down'. The next year saw Hardy play the clone villain in 'Star Trek : Nemesis' which did little at the Box Office, but it did give him valuable international exposure.

In 2003 too Hardy took to the stage with 'In Arabia We'd All Be Kings' at the Hampstead Theatre, and 'Blood' at The Royal Court Theatre for which he was awarded the Outstanding Newcomer Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards. He was also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer. That same year he knocked out three films too - 'The Reckoning' with Willem Dafoe, 'dot the i' with Gael Garcia Bernal and horror offering 'LD50 | Lethal Dose'.

The following year saw 'Layer Cake' with yet to be Bond, Daniel Craig, with a couple of TV movies to follow - 'Gideon's Daughter' and 'A for Andromeda' as well as a couple of TV series stints on 'Colditz' and 'The Virgin Queen'.

2006 through to 2010 saw thirteen feature films including 'Scenes of a Sexual Nature', 'Flood', 'WAZ', 'The Inheritance', Guy Ritchie's London crime flick 'RocknRolla', 'Bronson' and culminating in 2010's 'Inception' for Christopher Nolan. During this time too there were further TV series appearances on 'Cape Wrath', 'Oliver Twist' as Bill Sykes, 'Wuthering Heights' as Heathcliffe and 'The Take' as well as 'The Man of Mode' at The National Theatre, and 'The Long Red Road' at Chicago's Goodman Theatre as Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Since then there have been a number of standout roles including 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' with his hero Gary Oldman, 'Warrior' with Joel Edgerton, his unforgettable role as arch villain Bane in Christopher Nolan's concluding Batman trilogy instalment 'The Dark Knight Rises', John Hillcoat's Prohibition era bootleggin' moonshine swillin' 'Lawless' with Gary Oldman again; and then 'Locke', and 'The Drop' with Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini last year.

In 2015 so far there has been 'Child 44' with Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace once more, and George Millers long overdue reprisal of the cult classic character Max Rockatansky in 'Mad Max : Fury Road'. Next up there is 'London Road', 'Legend' for Director Brian Helgeland in which Hardy plays both underground criminal brothers in 60's era London, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, 'The Revenant' with Leonardo DiCaprio currently in post-production, TV mini-series 'Taboo' in pre-production for 2016 and 'Mad Max : The Wasteland' recently announced.

Hardy has 48 Acting credits to his name and two Producer credits. He has won eleven awards including the Rising Star BAFTA Award in 2011, and a British Independent Film Award for 'Bronson' as Best Actor. There have been a further 37 nominations also.

Having divorced Sarah Ward in 2004, Hardy was linked to Rachel Speed from 2004 until 2009 with whom he has a son, Louis Thomas born in 2008. In mid-2014 he married Actress Charlotte Riley, and the couple announced recently that they are expecting their first child. Hardy is also an ambassador for The Prince's Trust.

Tom Hardy - muscular, toned and tattooed; deep gravelly voice; able to dramatically change his physical appearance from film to film; has a diverse range across all genres (almost); and appears to be in just about every other film out at the moment whether big studio fare or small independent stuff, but, we'll keep on coming back for more as long as you keep doing what you do best - Happy Birthday to you Tom, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'INCEPTION' - archive from 4th August 2010.

I saw 'INCEPTION' on Monday night this week, and wow, what a film! Directed, Produced and Written by Chris Nolan this film has a huge ensemble cast; strong performances from that cast; an original, intelligent, thought provoking story; stunning visuals; and action aplenty. As we know subsequent to its release this film received huge critical and commercial success, raking in US$826M in Box Office receipts and a further US$68M in DVD and Blu-ray sales off a US$160M budget. It was also nominated for eight Academy Awards of which it walked way with four golden statues - for Best Cinematography, Visual Effects, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing and along the way it picked up another staggering 158 award wins and 172 nominations. Along with his 'Batman' franchise success this film really established Nolan at the top of his game and ensured he could practically write his own name on almost any movie that came along afterwards.

The film centres around Dom Cobb (Leonard DiCaprio, on fine form) a skilled thief but not of the traditional kind. His particular set of skills surround extracting valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the sleeping dream state when our minds are at their most vulnerable. Because of this skill-set Cobb has become much in demand in the emerging world of corporate espionage, but this has come at a big personal price - having cost him everything he ever cared for, held dear and loved, and now he is a fugitive on the run. Now however, he has a chance to redeem himself.

Working with Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) also skilled in extraction, they are engaged by Saito (Ken Watanabe) to perform an 'inception' - which involves implanting an idea in someones subconscious rather than extracting it. Saito wants to dismantle an energy corporation that is being overseen by competitor Maurice Fischer (Pete Postlethwaite) who is on his death bed strapped up to various life support machines, so the idea needs to be implanted in the mind of his son & successor Robert (Cillian Murphy). The pay off for this job is that Saito will use his power and his connections to clear Cobb's name of a murder charge allowing him access to his children.

From here, Cobb & Arthur ready a Team that consist of Eames (Tom Hardy), as conman and identity forger; Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who mixes up a powerful sedative for a stable 'dream within a dream' state; Ariadne (Ellen Page), an architecture student who designs the labyrinth of the dream landscapes, recruited with the help of Professor Stephen Miles (Michael Caine). There is also Tom Berrenger as godfather to Robert and Executive Board Member of Fischer's company; Marion Cotillard as Mal Cobb - Dom's deceased wife who appears in various dreams during Cobb's process of extraction/inception; and Lukas Haas as Nash - one of Cobb's architects who betrays him, and is replaced later on by Ariadne.

As the film develops the Team enter several dream states that involve multi-tiered dreams and dreams within dreams as we go from rain soaked Los Angeles, into a hotel in the second level, and then into a snow capped mountain fortress in the third level all intertwined and with the Team split amongst the various levels and dealing with subconscious challenges, obstacles and potentially life threatening situations along the way. There is also another level where Cobb's wife Mal is believed to be in a state of limbo in a world they built together based on their shared experiences as man & wife, and which Cobb must access in order to free her even though she is dead in real life.

If you are confused by this complex plot then you can join the other 80% of those who saw this film initially, but don't let that get in the way of a good story and a cracking film. You really do need to pay attention to what is going on throughout the film in order to keep track of what is reality and what is a dream, and even the controversial thought provoking ending will leave you wondering and debating the question long after the credits have rolled. I loved this film, and still do, even after repeated viewings, and if you missed it on the big screen back in mid-2010 then shame on you, but, all is not lost and you can catch it on DVD, Blu-ray and download, and, you won't be disappointed.

A spectacle of a film in every sense that sits in my favourite top ranked films of all time for sure that offers solid, intelligent, well crafted adult entertainment at its best. A must-see!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st February 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does, on 17th February - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 34, 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 15th February

• Jane Seymour - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress | Producer
• Jessica De Gouw - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress
• Sarah Wynter - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress
• Matt Groening - Born 1954, turns 61 - Producer | Writer | Animator

Monday 16th February

• Christopher Eccleston - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor
• Ice T - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Elizabeth Olson - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actress

Tuesday 17th February

• Paris Hilton - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Heiress
• Denise Richards - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
• Rene Russo - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress | Producer
• Hal Holbrook - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor
• Lou Diamond Phillips - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Dominic Purcell - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Bay - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Actor | Cameraman

Wednesday 18th February 

• John Travolta - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Pilot
• Matt Dillon - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor
• George Kennedy - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor
• Milos Forman - Born 1932, turns 83 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Greta Scacchi - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress
• Cybill Shepherd - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Molly Ringwald - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress

Thursday 19th February

• Lisa McCune - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
• Benicio Del Toro - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Jeff Daniels - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Singer
• Ray Winstone - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Producer

Friday 20th February

• Sidney Poitier - Born 1927, turns 88 - Actor | Director
• Mike Leigh - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Writer
• Brenda Blethyn - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
• Cindy Crawford - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress | Model
• Rhianna - Born 1988, turns 27 - Singer | Actress

Saturday 21st February 

• Jennifer Love Hewitt - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Tyne Daly - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
• Anthony Daniels - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor
• William Baldwin - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
• Kelsey Grammer - Born 1955, turn s60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Alan Rickman - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Director

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in the Sherman Oaks district. Whilst from a Jewish family  his parents were the joint founders of the 'Progress Jewish Alliance' in 1999 to assert Jewish interest in the campaign for social justice in Southern California which houses the second largest Jewish community in the US. His mother Jane Gordon ran for US Congress in the 1970's for the 'Peace and Freedom Party', and his father Dennis Levitt was the news Director for Pacifica Radio KPFK-FM. His maternal Grandfather was a Hollywood Director from the 1940's through to the 70's.

At age four, the young Joseph was already playing musical theatre, which then led to a number of television commercials for 'Pop-Tarts', 'Cocoa-Pops', shoes and peanut butter amongst others. By the end of the decade of his birth  he had already starred in two made for TV films - 'Stranger on my land' in 1988 and 'Settle the Score' in 1989. In between he had also starred in several episodes of the television show 'Family Ties', followed up by eleven episodes on 'Dark Shadows' in 1991 before three more TV films that same year - 'Changes', 'Hi Honey - I'm Dead' and 'Plymouth' - all by the time he had reached the tender age of ten years! Not bad!

1992 saw 13 episodes of 'The Powers That Be' with John Forsythe, with the odd guest appearance on other TV shows in the meantime. That same year there was 'Beethoven' with Charles Grodin and a huge St. Bernard hound, and 'A River Runs Through It' Directed by Robert Redford and starring too a young up & coming Brad Pitt.

The first half of the 90's also brought 'Gregory K', 'Holy Matrimony' with Patricia Arquette, 'Road Flower' (aka 'Road Killers') with Josh Brolin, 'Angels in the Outfield' with Danny Glover, and 'The Juror' with Alec Baldwin. All of this was before his breakout role in as Tommy Solomon with John Lithgow in '3rd Rock from the Sun' which ran for 139 episodes from 1996 to 2001. During this time he was attending Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1999 with honours.

After appearing with Jamie Lee Curtis in 'Halloween H20' he starred in '10 Things I Hate About You' in 1999 with Heath Ledger, and in 2000 he joined Columbia University School of General Studies in New York studying history, literature and French poetry becoming fluent in French in the process. He however, dropped out in 2004 to concentrate on his acting career, with a handful of films during this period - 'Picking up the Pieces' with Woody Allen in 2000, 'Manic' with Don Cheadle in 2001, and 'Latter Days' in 2003, 'Mysterious Skin' in 2004 and then 'Brick', 'Havoc' and 'Shadowboxer' all in 2005.

He went on to 'The Lookout' in 2007 with Jeff Daniels, 'Stop-Loss' with Channing Tatum in 2008 together with 'Miracle St. Anna' and an uncredited cameo in 'The Brothers Bloom' that same year. He has been a busy jobbing Actor ever since knocking out six films in 2009 - 'Killshot', 'Big Breaks' (short), '(500) Days of Summer', 'Uncertainty', 'Women in Trouble' and 'G.I.Joe : Rise of Cobra'.

2010 brought 'Hesher', 'Electra Luxx' and 'Inception' for Christopher Nolan. 2011 saw '50/50' only with Seth Rogen, and then a return to his usual busyness in 2012 with the release of 'The Dark Knight Rises' for Christoper Nolan once more, 'Premium Rush' for David Koepp, 'Looper' with Bruce Willis, and 'Lincoln' for Steven Spielberg.

In 2013 he was occupied with his acclaimed Writing and Directing debut in 'Don Jon' in which he also starred with Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. In 2014 he played the role of fractured gambler with a hidden agenda in the Robert Rodriguez follow up to his earlier film 'Sin City' with 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For'. Then came an uncredited cameo in the now infamous 'The Interview', with 'The Walk' in post-production for a late 2015 release, an as yet untitled Christmas project with Seth Rogen also in post-production for a late end of year release, and an Oliver Stone bio-pic with Gordon-Levitt playing Edward Snowdon and due for a 2016 release and currently in pre-production.

Gordon-Levitt has 68 acting credits to his name, seven Director Credits (which include five short films), three Producer credits and three Writing credits. He has been nominated for two Golden Globes for '50/50' and '(500) Days of Summer', won a Primetime Emmy for 'HitRECord on TV' with 21 other wins and 49 other nominations so far in his career. His older brother Dan died in 2010 and in December 2014 he married Tasha McCauley. He plays drums and guitar, and he is the founder and Director of 'hitRECord' - an online collaborative media production company.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - dimpled, youthful and possessing boyish good looks; action star, dramatic lead, romantic playboy; and already at just 34 has worked in the business for 30 years and has an aver increasing body of work to show for it and keep us entertained. Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 9th - 15th November 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Leonardo DiCaprio does, on 11th November - 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 9th November

• Lou Ferrigno - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor | Bodybuilder
• Tony Slattery - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality

Monday 10th November

• Walton Goggins - Born 1971, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• Roland Emmerich - Born 1955, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ennio Morricone - Born 1928, turns 86 - Composer

Tuesday 11th November

• Leonardo DiCaprio - Born 1974, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Stanley Tucci - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Scoot McNairy - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Demi Moore - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
• Calista Flockhart - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress

Wednesday 12th November

• Anne Hathaway - Born 1982, turns 32 - Actress | Singer
• Radha Mitchell - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Ryan Gosling - Born 1980, turns 34 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Neil Young - Born 1945, turns 69 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Writer | Producer | Actor

Thursday 13th November

• Gerard Butler - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Zahn - Born 1967, turns 47 - Actor
• Jimmy Kimmel - Born 1967, turns 47 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actor
• Whoopi Goldberg - Born 1955, turns 59 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Friday 14th November

• Olga Kurylenko - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actress
• Josh Duhamel - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actor
• Patrick Warburton - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actor

Saturday 15th November

• Jonny Lee Miller - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actor
• Edward Asner - Born 1929, turns 85 - Actor
• Yaphet Kotto - Born 1939, turns 75 - Actor
• Sam Waterston - Born 1940, turns 74 - Actor
• Shailene Woodley - Born 1991, turns 23 - Actress

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California to mother Irmelin Indebirken and father George Paul Di Caprio with German/Russian ancestry on his mothers side and German/Italian on his fathers. Raised as an only child his parents divorced when he was just a year old - his father was a renowned underground comic/graphic novel artist who produced and distributed such material too, and his mother was a legal secretary.

Growing up he attended the Los Angeles Centre for Enriched Studies, then Seeds Elementary School and John Marshall High School which he dropped out of having completed his third year. Some of his childhood was spent in Germany with his maternal grandparents, and as a result he speaks fluent German. His parents recognised early on that that young Leonardo had some talent in performance art, and so signed him up with a talent agent. From this DiCaprio gained some exposure on television commercials and educational programmes. In 1990 he landed a spot on the TV Series spin-off of the movie of the same name 'Parenthood' which brought some critical acclaim and a couple of award nominations. He also gained exposure on other TV shows including 'The New Lassie', 'Roseanne' and on the short-lived soap opera 'Santa Barbara'.

His film debut came in 1993 in the direct-to-video comedy Sci-Fi horror offering 'Critters 3' which was followed by a regular stint on the short-lived ABC Sit-Com 'Growing Pains'. This in turn led to DiCaprio being singled out in a casting call by Robert De Niro to star alongside him in the 1992 film 'This Boys Life', which then gave rise to 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' in 1993 playing the mentally handicapped brother to Johnny Depp's lead character. This role brought critical acclaim and DiCaprio's first Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

1996 brought further attention with Baz Luhrmann's modern retelling of 'Romeo+Juliet' with Claire Danes. Made for a modest US$10M it raked in almost ten times that amount, and started to polarise DiCaprio as the young heart-throb actor of the moment. This was further reinforced a year later when James Cameron cast him as the young Jack Dawson in 'Titanic' - a role he was reluctant to take on at first. Made for US$200M it grossed US$2.2B almost globally and until 2010 was the highest grossing film of all time, and turned DiCaprio into a bonafide commercial film superstar and global heart-throb phenomenon. For his role in 'Titanic' DiCaprio earned US$2.5M.

As the decade closed out starring roles followed, now that he had proved himself in the 'Titanic' blockbuster - but these were to less critical acclaim than those aforementioned, and included 'The Man in the Iron Mask' and 'The Beach'. The first half of the new century brought new and diverse roles, challenging characters, rich stories and acclaimed acting and Directing talent with which to work.  Notable outings included 'Catch Me if You Can' with Steven Spielberg in 2002, 'Gangs of New York' with Martin Scorsese that same year, 'The Aviator' in 2004 again with Scorsese, 'Blood Diamond' in 2006 with Edward Zwick and also that year 'The Departed' again with Scorsese. All of these were critically and financially successful, and garnered DiCaprio further award nominations and wins.

The years that followed brought other high profile Directors and opportunities with which to stretch his talents - 'Body of Lies' with Sir Ridley Scott, 'Revolutionary Road' with Sam Mendes, and in 2010 with Scorsese again on 'Shutter Island', and later that year with Christopher Nolan on 'Inception' - the latter turning in US$825M worldwide off a US$160M budget. Clint Eastwood also beckoned next Directing him in his Bio-Pic of J. Edgar Hoover in 'J.Edgar' in 2011, and this was followed up in 2012 with his turn as Calvin Candy in Quentin Tarrantino's 'Django Unchained', and then Baz Luhrmann once again in 2013 for 'The Great Gatsby'. These latter two were also financially successful earning US$425M and US$350M respectively. Next up was his fifth collaboration with Martin Scorsese playing Jordan Belfort in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' released early in 2014 and to date has grossed almost US$400M with further accolades bestowed. Next up is 'The Reverant' for a 2015/16 release and is filming now and Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

DiCaprio has 37 acting credits thus far to his name and 16 credits as a Producer. His other films include 'The Quick and The Dead', 'The Basketball Diaries', 'Total Eclipse', 'Marvin's Room', 'Celebrity' and 'Don's Plum'.  He has 51 worldwide awards wins and 122 other nominations, and these include : Academy Award nominations for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape', 'The Aviator', 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street' as well as a Best Picture nomination for 'The Wolf of Wall Street' on which he was also Producer. He won the Golden Globe Award too for 'The Wolf of Wall Street' and 'The Aviator' plus eight other nominations, and he has received to date three BAFTA nominations for 'The Wolf of Wall Street', 'The Departed' and 'The Aviator'.

He is environmentally very active advocating that global warming is 'the number one environmental challenge'. He was appointed in September this year as the United Nations Representative on Climate Change. He donated US$1M to earthquake relief in Haiti in 2010, and later that same year a further US$1M to the 'Wildlife Conservation Society'. He is also an activist for the 'Animal Legal Defence Fund' and actively supports gay rights. He is unmarried but his dating exploits with models and actresses is well documented in the media.

Starting out DiCaprio earned US$75K for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' in 1993, compared to the US$20M price tag he received for each of 'The Beach', 'Catch Me if You Can', 'The Aviator', 'The Departed', 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Great Gatsby'. By comparison he earned all up US$59M from 'Inception'. Clearly with such a filmic pedigree, the pulling power he has to open and establish a movie, and his Production capability and earnings too he is a Hollywood force to contend with - and he turns only 40 today, on 11th November 2014.

Leonardo DiCaprio - diverse and exciting film career, huge pulling power, Scorsese collaborator, extensive emotional range, talented beyond question, and a man on an environmental mission - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 27th July - 2nd August.

Do you 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 week? 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 over the coming week. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Check out too the spotlight on this weeks Birthday Boy on 30th July, Christopher Nolan, at the end of this feature.

Sunday 27th July

• Jonathan Rhys Myers - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Julian McMahon - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor
• Yahoo Serious - Born 1953, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 28th July

• Alexis (Robert) Arquette - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actress

Tuesday 29th July

• Stephen Dorff - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actor | Producer
• David Warner - Born 1941, turns 73 - Actor

Wednesday 30th July

• Arnold Schwarzenegger - Born 1947, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
• Richard Linklater - Born 1960, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Christopher Nolan - Born 1970, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jean Reno - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor
• Hilary Swank - Born 1974, turns 40 - Actress | Producer
• Lisa Kudrow - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Laurence Fishburne - Born 1961, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Simon Baker - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Frank Stallone - Born 1950, turns 64 - Actor | Producer
• Peter Bogdanovich - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Terry Crews - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor

Thursday 31st July

• Sherry Lansing - Born 1944, turns 70 - Actress | Producer
• Wesley Snipes - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Biehn - Born 1956, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Dean Cain - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• J. K. Rowling - Born 1965, turns 49 - Writer | Producer
• Geraldine Chaplin - Born 1944, turns 70 - Actress | Writer

Friday 1st August

• Sam Mendes - Born 1965, turns 49 - Director | Producer
• Jason Mamoa - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Director

Saturday 2nd August 

• Sam Worthington - Born 1976, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Edward Furlong - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actor
• Kevin Smith - Born 1970, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Wes Craven - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor

Christopher Jonathan James Nolan was born in England to an American father and English mother and grew up spending his time between London and Chicago. 

At age seven he began making short movies with his father on a Super-8 camera, and by age eleven he had already decided upon a movie making career. While studying English Literature at University College London he shot 16mm films which led to his first feature film in 1998 - 'Following' made for the princely sum of US$6,000. Whilst at college he made two short films - in 1989 - 'Tarantella' and 'Larceny' in 1995, followed by 'Doodlebug' in 1997. It was however, 'Following' that began to put Nolan in the spotlight gaining some recognition from the film festivals at which it was shown. This small independent low budget offering did enable him to secure enough support to make his next feature - the highly acclaimed 'Momento' with Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss in 2000. This received critical acclaim and did well on the awards circuit - so much so that it led to his next offering, the 2002 psychological thriller 'Insomnia' starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.

Nolan's turning point came though in 2005 when he was given the chance to reboot, revive and reimagine the DC Comics 'Batman' franchise which he did admirably over three successive films starting with 'Batman Begins' with Christian Bale in the lead role as our Caped Crusader!. This was followed by 'The Prestige' in 2006 about rival magicians starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, and then 2008 brought 'The Dark Knight' - the second in his Batman canon which grossed in excess of US$1B globally and also garnered many awards and nominations along the way. 

Riding on the success of this Nolan made 'Inception' in 2010 - a film that he had written and had been in gestation for many years. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role this mind-bending, thought provoking, much debated Sci-Fi thriller earned over US$800M at the global box office and again gathered many awards and nominations in its wake.

2012 bought the conclusion of his Batman trilogy with 'The Dark Knight Rises', which like its predecessor earned in excess of US$1B at the box office, and has cemented Nolan as "one of the most innovative story tellers and image makers at work in movies today".

Nolan Writes, Produces and Directs most of his films and acted as Producer on last years 'Superman : Man of Steel' and this years 'Transcendence', with an Executive Producer credit on the 2016 'Batman vs Superman : Dawn of Justice'. His eight films to date have grossed in excess of US$3.5B at the global box office. He and Sam Raimi are the only Directors to film three live action Comic Book adaptations of the same character ('Batman' and 'Spiderman' respectively), and after James Cameron, Nolan is the second Director only to make two films that have grossed more than US$1B ('The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'). He owns a London based Production company - 'Syncopy' which he runs with his wife Emma Thomas.

From eight films he has a global box office haul of over US$3.5B and has earned 116 award wins and 109 other nominations, including three Academy Award nominations for Best Picture ('Inception') and Best Original Screenplay ('Momento' and 'Inception'); three Golden Globes nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay ('Inception') and Best Original Screenplay ('Momento'); and three BAFTA nominations all for 'Inception' in the categories of Best Director, Best Film and Best Original Screenplay.

Next up for Nolan is 'Interstellar' due for release in November this year - a Sci-Fi epic that depicts "a heroic interstellar voyage to the farthest borders of our scientific understanding" and starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain . . . can't wait!

Christopher Nolan - multi-talented, highly acclaimed, visionary film maker, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-