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

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

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

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

Sunday 26th February

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

Monday 27th February

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

Tuesday 28th February

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

Wednesday 1st March

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

Thursday 2nd March

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

Friday 3rd March

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

Saturday 4th March

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st July 2016.

Here's a bit of fun to get you thinking and while away a few minutes. I was thinking about movies with a number in the title and how far I could count before reaching a stumbling block. I've just included one for each digit, but of course there are many more, and reading through my list you'll be able to add many of your own I'm sure. I made it up to thirty but must confess I struggled with 18 and 26 and had to refer to Professor Google.

• 'Zero Dark Thirty' - 2013 - Kathryn Bigelow Directs, Jessica Chastain stars,
• 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' - 1976 - Milos Forman Directs, Jack Nicholson stars,
• 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' - 1998 - Guy Ritchie Directs, Jason Statham stars,
• 'Three Kings' - 1999 - David O. Russell Directs, George Clooney stars,
• 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' - 1994 - Mike Newell Directs, Hugh Grant stars,
• 'Five Easy Pieces' - 1970 - Bob Rafelson Directs, Jack Nicholson stars,
• 'Six Degrees of Separation' - 1993 - Fred Schepisi Directs, Will Smith stars,
• 'The Magnificent Seven' - 1960 - John Sturges Directs, Yul Brynner stars,
• 'The Hateful Eight' - 2015 - Quentin Tarantino Directs, Kurt Russell stars,
• 'District 9' - 2009 - Neill Blomkamp Directs, Sharlto Copley stars,
• 'Ten Little Indians' - 1965 - George Pollock Directs, Shirley Eaton stars,
• 'Ocean's Eleven' - 1960 - Lewis Milestone Directs, Frank Sinatra stars,
• '12 Monkeys' - 1996 - Terry Gilliam Directs, Brad Pitt stars,
• 'Assault on Precinct 13' - 1976 - John Carpenter Directs, Austin Stoker stars,
• '11:14' - 2003 - Greg Marcks Directs, Patrick Swayze stars,
• 'Fifteen Minutes' - 2001 - John Herzfeld Directs, Robert De Niro stars,
• 'Sixteen Candles' - 1984 - John Hughes Directs, Molly Ringwald stars,
• '17 Again' - 2009 - Burr Steers Directs, Zac Efron stars,
• '18 Again' - 1988 - Paul Flaherty Directs, George Burns stars,
• 'K-19 : The Widowmaker' - 2002 - Kathryn Bigelow Directs, Harrison Ford stars,
• 'Halloween H20' - 1998 - Steve Miner Directs, Jamie Lee Curtis stars,
• '21 Grams' - 2003 - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Directs, Sean Penn stars,
• 'Catch 22' - 1970 - Mike Nichols Directs, Alan Arkin stars,
• 'The Number 23' - 2007 - Joel Schumacher Directs, Jim Carrey stars,
• '24 Hour Party People' - 2002 - Michael Winterbottom Directs, Steve Coogan stars,
• '25th Hour' - 2002 - Spike Lee Directs, Edward Norton stars,
• 'Special 26' - 2013 - Neeraj Pandey Directs, Anupam Khur stars,
• '27 Dresses' - 2008 - Anne Fletcher Directs, Katherine Heigl stars,
• '28 Days Later' - 2002 - Danny Boyle Directs, Cillian Murphy stars,
• 'Track 29' - 1988 - Nicolas Roeg Directs, Gary Oldman stars,
• '30 Days of Night' - 2007 - David Slade Directs, Josh Hartnett stars.

For the week ahead there are four new features to give you another gold plated excuse to get out to your local Odeon, that stretch across all genres - except for the younger kids perhaps. We kick off with an intergalactic film franchise going boldly now on its thirteenth voyage to the big screen and celebrating 50 years since it ventured onto our small screens but still much anticipated and eagerly awaited since being successfully rebooted seven years ago. Then a horror offering that will make you think twice about switching off the lights at night as things go more than 'bump'; with a Jane Austen adaptation that is likely to be quite different to any other costume drama of that period you have seen (other than 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' perhaps); before wrapping up with a faithful true to the source material animated DC Comics adaptation that sees the Dark Knight of Gotham and the Clown Prince of Crime go head to head - but who will have the last laugh?

As always, you are cordially invited to leave your own thoughts and opinions in the Comments section below this or any other Post, when you have sat through your movie of choice in the week ahead. In the meantime, enjoy your film.

'STAR TREK : BEYOND' (Rated M) - 'Star Trek' as we know it had its humble beginnings as an NBC television series back in 1966, which ran for just three seasons - having been cancelled in 1969 because of declining ratings. Series creator Gene Roddenberry always wanted to continue the series in film first pitching the idea in 1969, but it would be another ten years before the small screen series made it to the big screen - largely off the back of syndicated series re-runs during the 70's which proved to be a whole lot more popular second time around. Released in time for Christmas 1979, the first film 'Star Trek : The Motion Picture' reunited the television cast for US$35M, returning a worldwide gross of US$139M. Throughout the 80's there were a further five films up until 1991with 'The Next Generations' taking over in 1994 and running though until 2002, culminating with 'Nemesis' - the worst performing film of the franchise to date making just US$67M from its US$60M outlay. Then in 2009 Director J.J.Abrams got hold of the franchise for an overdue and much needed reboot with 'Star Trek' and followed this up in 2013 with 'Star Trek : Into Darkness' - the latter proving the most successful of the franchise so far yielding a return of US$467M from its US$185M budget. The first twelve films were made for a combined US$540M and returned a collective US$1,931B, with this film, the thirteenth, made for US$150M and released in the 50th anniversary year of that original television series going to air.

And so to this next instalment. Co-Written by Simon Pegg - a self confessed Trekkie and Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, Scottie, and Directed by Justin Lin who Directed the 'Fast & Furious films 3, 4, 5 and 6' to huge Box Office success, with J.J.Abrams taking a Producer credit on this one. Here the rebooted crew are reunited once again as we find them mid-way through their five year journey to go boldly where no man has gone before, en route to dock with the deep-space starbase 'Yorktown' when the Enterprise is attacked by a seemingly unstoppable force of unknown aliens that results in Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) ordering all to abandon ship. Stranded on an unknown planet, separated and with no means of communication or getting home, the crew of the Enterprise find themselves pitted against a new and ruthless enemy in the form of Krall (Idris Elba) who has an axe to grind against The Federation and Kirk and his crew, and will stop at nothing to realise his ultimate dastardly plan. Also starring Zachary Quinto (as Spock), Karl Urban (as McCoy), Zoe Saldana (as Uhura), John Choo (as Sulu), Anton Yelchin (as Chekov) and new alien being Sofia Boutella (as Taylah). 'Star Trek 4' has just been announced, with expectations the crew will return together with Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk's father, George Kirk.

'LIGHTS OUT' (Rated M) - this supernatural horror film was made for a paltry US$5M by Director David Sandberg based on his own original three minute short film that went viral on the net, and Co-Produced by horror maestro James Wan (his Directed 'The Conjuring 2' is still out on general release). Telling the story of Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) who leaves home believing her childhood fears are now a thing of the past, having grown up never quite sure of what lurked in the dark when the lights were turned off at night. Now, several years later her younger brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) has begun to experience similar terrifying events and unexplained fears that put her own safety and sanity at risk once again as when she was growing up. Looking to uncover what goes bump in the night (and worse), Rebecca begins to unlock the truth about a mysterious and terrifying supernatural entity that has connections to her mother Sophie (Maria Bello) that ultimately puts the entire family in danger.

'LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP' (Rated PG) - based on the 1871 published epistolary novel by Jane Austen, 'Lady Susan' as Directed, Co-Produced and adapted for the Screen by Whit Stillman, this film had its Australian Premier as the closing night film at the Sydney Film Festival on 19th June. The film premiered at Sundance in January this year, was released Stateside in mid-May and has so far made US$13M off its US$3M budget outlay. Telling the story set in the 1790's here widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale playing against type as an upper-crust devilishly scheming seductive and manipulating anti-heroine) is trying to marry off her less than favoured daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clarke) to wealthy no-hoper Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), and also finding herself a well to do with means suitor in the form of Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel), whilst harbouring affections for the dashing but married Lord Manwaring (Lochlann O'Mearain). Enlisting the support and sage advice of her close American friend Alicia Johnson (Chloe Savigny) this gets complicated as the love triangle plays out between mother and daughter and numerous male hangers-on. Stephen Fry also stars.

'BATMAN : THE KILLING JOKE' - (Rated MA15+) - goes on very limited theatrical release only before being released in digital and DVD/BluRay formats at the end of July/early August, this 95 minute full length animated feature film is released by Warner Bros. and based on the DC comics graphic novel of the same name. Having escaped Arkham Asylum The Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) tracks down Commissioner Gordon (voiced by Ray Wise) and tortures him having shot his daughter Barbara (voiced by Tara Strong) in order to prove a point about his own fall into insanity. As Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) attempts to get to the bottom of the Jokers past before the Clown Prince of Crime puts an end to one of Gotham's finest, the two adversaries and arch rivals will go head to head before the Joker can prove that just one bad day can turn anyone as insane as he is! Directed by Bruce Timm and Sam Liu. Worth hunting out on the big screen while you can.

Four films this week offering Sci-Fi escapism, supernatural horror, animated comic book Superhero and Villain, and period piece costume drama - so what's not to like about this weeks assortment of movie goodness? Get yourself to your local picture house and lash out $20 on some riveting big screen entertainment - you know it makes sense! See you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-