Birthday's to share this week : 26th November-2nd December 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Zoe Kravitz does on 1st December - check out my tribute to this Actress Birthday Girl turning 29, 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 November

• Tina Turner (aka Anna Mae Bullock) - Born 1939, turns 78 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
• Mark L. Lester - Born 1946, turns 71 - Producer | Director | Writer  

Monday 27th November

• John Alderton - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor
• William Fichtner - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Sharlto Copley - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Kathryn Bigelow - Born 1951, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Tuesday 28th November

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actress | Producer
• Randy Newman - Born 1943, turns 74 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor | Writer
• Joe Dante - Born 1946, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Ed Harris - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer 
• Judd Nelson - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Writer
• Alfonso Cuaron - Born 1961, turns 56 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer
• Jonathan Mostow - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Martin Clunes - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Director 
• Ryan Kwanten - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor  

Wednesday 29th November

• Joel Coen - Born 1954, turns 63 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor
• Tom Sizemore - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Andrew McCarthy - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Director | Producer
• Don Cheadle - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Chadwick Boseman - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Lucas Black - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor 
• Diane Ladd - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actress | Director | Writer | Producer
• Anna Faris - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Singer | Producer  

Thursday 30th November

• Ridley Scott - Born 1937, turns 80 - Director | Producer
• Terrence Malick - Born 1943, turns 74 - Writer | Producer | Director
• David Mamet - Born 1947, turns 70 - Writer | Director | Producer | Songwriter 
• Mandy Patinkin - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Ben Stiller - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Marc Foster - Born 1969, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer  
• Robert Kirkman - Born 1978, turns 39 - Writer | Producer

Friday 1st December

• Woody Allen - Born 1935, turns 82 - Writer | Director | Actor 
• Treat Williams - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor 
• Jeremy Northam - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor 
• Riz Ahmed - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Bette Midler - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Writer
• Sarah Silverman - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Emily Mortimer - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Zoe Kravitz - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress   

Saturday 2nd December

• Connie Booth - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress | Writer
• Lucy Liu - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Director | Producer 

Zoe Isabella Kravitz was born in Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA to mother Lisa Bonet, an Actress and father Lenny Kravitz a Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Actor and Record Producer. Her parents were married in 1987 and divorced six years later when Zoe was just five years of age. Initially, she lived with her mother in Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains in western Los Angeles County before moving at the age of eleven to live with her father in Miami. She attended the private co-educational non-denominational Miami Country Day School, and then the Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan, New York from which she graduated in 2007. That same year she began studying at the Acting Conservatory at the State University of New York at Purchase, but gave this up after a year and relocated to Brooklyn, New York to begin her career in the movie business. During her High School years up until her mid-20's, Zoe struggled with bulimia and anorexia.

The young Kravitz, aged nineteen secured her first film role in the Scott Hicks Directed 'No Reservations' starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin, and later that same year the Neil Jordan Directed crime drama offering 'The Brave One' alongside Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard and Naveen Andrews. The following year saw her appear in 'The Assassination of a High School President' with Bruce Willis and Michael Rapaport, and also that year the comedy drama 'Birds of America' with Matthew Perry, Ben Foster and Hilary Swank.  2009 saw 'The Greatest' with Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that year.

The new decade saw 'Twelve' Directed by Joel Schumacher which also Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010, then 'Beware the Gonzo' alongside Ezra Miller which Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and 'It's Kind of a Funny Story' with Zach Galifianakis and Viola Davis. 2011 brought 'Yelling to the Sky' which Premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and starring Jason Clarke, Tim Blake Nelson and Gabourey Sibide. This was followed by eight episodes on the television series 'Californication' with David Duchnovy and Natascha McElhone, and then her turn in Matthew Vaughn's 'X-Men : First Class' as Angel Salvadore, a superhuman teen mutant, alongside an all star cast taking in James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Oliver Platt, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne and Jason Flemyng. The film secured twenty award wins and another 38 nominations, and grossed US$354M at the Box Office from its US$150M budget outlay.

'Treading Water' was released in 2013 with Douglas Smith and Carrie-Anne Moss, and then the Sci-Fi action adventure offering Co-Written and Directed by M.Night Shyamalan 'After Earth' with Will Smith and Jaden Smith. Next up came the first instalment in the hugely popular Veronica Roth adapted novels for the big screen with 'Divergent' with Shailene Woodley taking the lead role as Tris Prior with Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller and Maggie Q. Kravitz would reprise her role as Christina in the two feature length sequels, 'Insurgent' in 2015, and 'Allegiant' in 2016, with the final instalment, 'Ascendant' due to be released as a made for TV movie.

In between time there was 'Pretend We're Kissing', 'The Road Within' with Dev Patel and Robert Patrick, 'Good Kill' with Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood and January Jones, 'Dope' which Premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and then George Millers reboot of his classic dystopian future franchise road movie with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' with Tom Hardy as the titular hero Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult.

2016 launched with adventure comedy 'Adam Green's Aladdin'  and then the crime drama 'Vincent N Roxxy' with Emile Hirsch and Zoey Deutch. That same year saw the David Yates Directed J.K.Rowling adapted novel 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' in which Kravitz plays Lestrange in this New York set secret world of wizards and witches seventy years before Harry Potter stepped foot inside Hogwarts for the first time. The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design amongst its haul of fifteen award wins and fifty nominations. Kravitz reprises her role as Leta Lestrange in the second instalment of this franchise also Directed by David Yates and starring Eddie Redmayne reprising his role as our hero Newt Scamander, with Ezra Miller, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Carmen Ejogo. This film 'Fantastic Beasts : The Crimes of Grindelwald' is due for release in November 2018.

In the meantime, Kravitz lent her voice talents as Catwoman in 'The LEGO Batman Movie' and then the mystery thriller 'Gemini' and girls on tour comedy 'Rough Night' with Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Demi Moore, Ty Burrell, all released this year. There was also her role in the David E. Kelley Directed hugely popular and successful television mini-series 'Big Little Lies' with Nicole Kidman, Reece Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard. The series won eight Primetime Emmy Awards was nominated for another eight from its total collection of 23 award wins and 28 further nominations.

Next up for Kravitz is the musical drama 'Viena and the Fantoms' with Jon Bernthal, Dakota Fanning and Evan Rachel Wood about a Roadie who travels across North America with a punk rock band during the '80's. Then there is Sci-Fi actioner 'Kin' in Post-Production for a 2018 release with James Franco, Dennis Quaid and Jack Reynor about an ex-con and his brother who are forced on the run in a game of cat and mouse by a vengeful career criminal, and currently filming is the aforementioned 'Fantastic Beasts' follow up.



Aside from carving out a successful acting career, Kravitz has also modelled in various fashion magazines, has endorsed a number of fragrances, and released her own line in jewellery in collaboration with the Swarovski crystal company amongst others. Added to this, Kravitz began dabbling in music from sixteen years of age and she formed her first band in 2009 'Elevator Fight'. The band performed at a number of music festivals. From there she went on to form 'Lolawolf' releasing a self titled EP in 2014, and then an album 'Calm Down' in 2014 and another EP in mid-2015 'Every F***n Day', and she has also toured with the band too supporting the likes of Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen.
All up Kravitz has 34 Acting credits to her name, and she has two award wins and another eight nominations.

Zoe Kravitz - born into show business, stepdaughter of Jason Momoa, Goddaughter of Marisa Tomei,  multi-talented, in demand, a rising star, has achieved much in her ten years or so in the entertainment game and has so much still to offer, and not even thirty yet! Happy Birthday to you Zoe, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 6th - 12th August 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Charlize Theron does on 7th August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 42, 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 August

• Barbara Windsor - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Writer
• Michelle Yeoh - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Vera Farmiga - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Singer 
• Melissa George - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress  
• M. Night Shyamalan - Born 1970, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Monday 7th August

• Tobin Bell - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actor | Producer
• David Duchovny - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Michael Shannon - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• Charlize Theron - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
• Abbie Cornish - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress   

Tuesday 8th August

• Donald P. Bellisario - Born 1935, turns 82 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Dustin Hoffman - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter  

Wednesday 9th August

• Sam Elliott - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Eric Bana - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• McG - Born 1968, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Daniel Henshall - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor 
• Bill Skarsgard - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actor
• Melanie Griffith - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress | Producer
• Gillian Anderson - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Producer | Director 
• Rhona Mitra - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress 
• Audrey Tatou - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress 
• Anna Kendrick - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress | Singer  

Thursday 10th August

• Rosanna Arquette - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress | Director | Producer | Writer
• Antonio Banderas - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Justin Theroux - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director 
• Brenton Thwaites - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 11th August

• Ian McDiarmid - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor 
• Chris Hemsworth - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor 
• Viola Davis - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress | Producer  

Saturday 12th August

• Cara Delevingne - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actress 
• George Hamilton - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Producer
• Bruce Greenwood - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Casey Affleck - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Editor
• Lakeith Stanfield - Born 1991, turns 26 - Actor 

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, in the Gauteng Province of South Africa (formerly at the time of her birth the Transvaal Province), to mother Gerda Jacoba Maritz and father Charles Jacobus Theron. She was raised on her parents farm in Benoni near Johannesburg. Her father had an alcohol problem and at age fifteen he turned on both the young teenage Theron and his wife. Physically attacking his wife, Theron's mother shot and killed her husband. The shooting was judged to be in self defence and she was acquitted of any crime. She attended Putfontein Primary School and at thirteen moved to a boarding school at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. At sixteen, she won a one year modelling contract at a competition which saw her relocate to Milan in Italy with her mother. After a year of modelling assignments across Europe, she moved Stateside with her mother living in New York City and Miami. In New York she attended the Joffrey Ballet School where she trained to be a ballet dancer where she appeared in 'Swan Lake' and 'The Nutcracker', but a subsequent knee injury put an end to that career aspiration. 

At nineteen years of age, she took a one way ticket to Los Angeles that her mother purchased for her as an ultimatum - either work out what you going to do with your life here or you can come home and sulk and feel sorry for yourself in South Africa! With every intention of getting a gig in the film business, she was picked up by a talent agent who saw Theron get into a heated outburst whilst trying to cash a cheque at a Hollywood Boulevard bank. That chance meeting led to various introductions to casting agents and time at an acting school. After her big screen debut in a non-speaking role in horror offering 'Children of the Corn III' she scored her first speaking gig as a hitwoman in the 1996  comedy crime film '2 Days in the Valley' alongside Jeff Daniels, James Spader, Eric Stolz, Danny Aiello and Teri Hatcher. Theron's role was praised, even if the film garnered average Reviews at best. 

Next up was the Tom Hanks Written, Directed and starring 'That Thing You Do!' and then made for television movie 'Hollywood Confidential', Taylor Hackford's 'The Devil's Advocate' with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, then Woody Allen's 'Celebrity' with Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis. 'Mighty Joe Young' followed with Bill Paxton, Sci-Fi drama 'The Astronaut's Wife' alongside Johnny Depp, and then Lasse Hallstrom's 'The Cider House Rules' with Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine seeing out the nineties.

The new decade saw the John Frankenheimer Directed actioner 'Reindeer Games' with Ben Affleck; the James Gray Co-Written and Directed 'The Yards' with Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix; 'Men of Honour' with Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jnr.; and the Robert Redford Directed 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' with Will Smith and Matt Damon - all released in 2000. 2001 and 2002 saw 'Sweet November' with Keanu Reeves again, '15 Minutes' with Robert De Niro again, 'The Curse of the Jade Scorpion' with Woody Allen again, 'Trapped' with Kevin Bacon, and 'Waking Up in Reno' with Billy Bob Thornton and Patrick Swayze. 

Perhaps her breakout role came with 2003's Patty Jenkins Written and Directed 'Monster' in which Theron plays serial killer Aileen Wournos, a former prostitute who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men in the late '80's and early '90's. Theron won much critical praise for her role garnering the Oscar win for Best Actress, the Golden Globe win for Best Actress, the SAG Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA nomination, amongst a haul of others totalling 30 wins and 25 nods in all. The film also starred Christina Ricci and Bruce Dern.

That same year saw the remake of the classic 'The Italian Job' for Director F. Gary Gray with Mark Wahlberg again, and Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham and Edward Norton; and then her turn as Actress Britt Ekland in the biographical 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers' with Geoffrey Rush in the lead role; and then war time romantic drama 'Head in the Clouds' with Penelope Cruz and Stuart Townsend. 

2006 saw another highly acclaimed turn for Theron in 'North Country' for Director Niki Caro and starring alongside Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Woody Harrelson and Sissy Spacek. For her role as Josey Aimes Theron was nominated as Best Actress for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the SAG Award as well as a heap of others.

Sci-Fi actioner 'Aeon Flux' came next in 2005 with Frances McDormand again; and then the Paul Haggis Written and Directed 'In the Valley of Elah' with Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Susan Sarandon. Actor Stuart Townsend Wrote and Directed 'Battle in Seattle' which also starred Woody Harrelson again, Ray Liotta, Channing Tatum, Connie Nielsen and Michelle Rodriguez, and this was followed up by 'Sleepwalking', Peter Berg's reluctant Superhero film 'Hancock' with Will Smith; 'The Burning Plain', and then John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic adventure drama film 'The Road' with Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Robert Duvall seeing out the decade.

2011 brought 'Young Adult' for Director Jason Reitman for which Theron received further awards nominations including a Golden Globe nod; and then the Ridley Scott 'Alien' prequel 'Prometheus' with Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba.










'Snow White and the Hunstman' followed in 2012 with Theron playing Ravenna, the Evil Queen to Kristen Stewart's Snow White and Chris Hemsworth's The Huntsman. The film received mixed Reviews but took US$397M at the Box Office off a budget of US$170M and was therefore a commercial success spawning a sequel 'The Huntsman : Winter's War' being released in 2016 in which Theron reprised her role. The film fared less well critically and commercially than its predecessor bringing in US$165M form a US$115M budget outlay.

The Seth MacFarlane Written, Directed and starring romantic comedy Western, 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' came along in 2014, and then 'Dark Places' with Nicholas Hoult and Chloe Grace Moretz, and then George Miller's long awaited follow up to his earlier hugely successful and influential post-apocalyptic action adventure Sci-Fi offerings 'Mad Max' with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' alongside Tom Hardy as the titular Max Rockatansky with Theron playing Imperator Furiosa and with Nicholas Hoult again. The film made US$379M at the Box Office from its US$150M budget and won six Academy Awards and was nominated for four others, was nominated for two Golden Globes, won four BAFTA's and another three nominations amongst its total awards haul of 237 wins and another 209 nominations.

2016 saw the release of the Sean Penn Directed 'The Last Face' with Javier Bardem. The film was panned by Critics as too were Theron and Bardem's performances. This was followed by Theron applying her voice talents to the animated 'Kubo and the Two Strings' together with those of Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara amongst others. So far this year we have seen Theron in the F. Gary Gray Directed 'The Fate of the Furious' in which she pays cyberterrorist and criminal mastermind Cipher alongside Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Michelle Rodriguez and various others of note. The film made a staggering US$1.24B from its US$250M budget making it the eleventh highest grossing film of all time at the time of writing, and setting the record for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time at US$532M. And just released is 'Atomic Blonde' in which Theron plays double if not triple agent Lorraine Broughton in this cold war era action spy thriller.

Next up for Theron are 'Gringo' due in 2018 as Directed by Nash Edgerton and also starring Joel Edgerton, Sharlto Copley, David Oyelowo, Thandie Newton and Amanda Seyfried; in post-production is comedy about motherhood, 'Tully' for Director Jason Reitman; and in pre-production is 'Flarsky' for Director Jonathan Levine and also starring Seth Rogen.

All up Theron has 52 Acting credits to her name, and sixteen as Producer including on 2017 television series 'Girlboss' and 'Mindhunter'. She is the recipient of 56 award wins and another 96 nominations including the Oscar for 'Monster' and a nomination for 'North Country'; three Golden Globe nominations and the win also for 'Monster'; a Primetime Emmy nomination; two BAFTA nominations; three SAG nominations and the win for 'Monster' and a whole swathe of others from around the global awards circuit.

In 2007 Theron founded 'The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project' in an attempt to support African youth in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The project is committed to supporting community engaged organisations that address the key drivers of the disease through grant donations, networking and spotlighting their work to ultimately mobilise and empower them to prevent HIV. In 2008, Theron was named a UN Ambassador of Peace. She is also involved in women's rights organisations and has participated in pro-choice rallies, as well as being an active member of 'PETA' (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and a such is a supporter of animal rights. Theron is also a staunch supporter of same sex marriage and refuses to marry herself until such time as her country makes same sex marriage legal. In 2004 she signed a deal making her the spokeswoman for 'J'adore' advertising by Christian Dior, and in 2005 her image was used worldwide in print media advertising for Raymond Weil watches. Theron was in a long term relationship with Irish Actor Stuart Townsend whom she met on the set of 'Trapped' and worked with on subsequent films. The relationship ended in 2010 after eight years. In 2007 she became a US citizen and holds dual nationality with South Africa. She has two adopted children - a boy, Jackson in 2012, and a girl, August in 2015.

Charlize Theron - has been voted on numerous 'Top' lists multiple times including the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, 100 Sexiest Women in the World, the Hot 100 Women, the Sexiest Woman Alive, Most Desirable Women, Top Earning Actresses; has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Afrikaans is her fist language and she learned English as teenager by watching American television; is as active in the causes she believes in as she is on the big screen both in front of the camera and increasingly behind it; is blonde, stunning and statuesque but happy to turn that upside down and inside out for her craft and has been recognised for it numerous times; and is now a bona fide action star in her own right thanks to the likes of 'Aeon Flux', 'Mad Max : Fury Road' and 'Atomic Blonde'. Plenty of achievements already, and lots more still to come - we'll keep watching Charlize, and in the meantime, Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 4th-10th December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Nicholas Hoult does on 7th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 27, at the end of this feature, and, deserving of an Honorary Mention is screen legend Kirk Douglas turning 100 years young on 9th December.

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 4th December

• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Monday 5th December

• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 31 - Actor | Producer  

Tuesday 6th December

• Tom Hulce - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Producer
• Nick Park - Born 1958, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director | Animator 
• Judd Apatow - Born 1967, turns 49 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• JoBeth Williams - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actress | Producer | Director 

Wednesday 7th December

• Ellen Burstyn - Born 1932, turns 84 - Actress | Producer
• Emily Browning - Born 1988, turns 26 - Actress | Singer
• Jeffrey Wright - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Jeff Nichols - Born 1978, turns 38 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jack Huston - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actor | Singer
• Nicholas Hoult - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actor  

Thursday 8th December

• Rick Baker - Born 1950, turns 66 - Make-Up Artist | SFX Artist | Actor
• Dominic Monaghan - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Matthias Schoenaerts - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Kim Basinger - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actress
• Teri Hatcher - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress  

Friday 9th December

• Kirk Douglas - Born 1916, turns 100 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Beau Bridges - Born 1941, turns 75 - Actor | Producer | Director
• John Malkovich - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Judi Dench - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress | Singer  

Saturday 10th December

• Kenneth Branagh - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Xavier Samuel - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor  

Nicholas Caradoc Hoult was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, England to mother Glenis Brown, a piano teacher, and father Roger Hoult, a former pilot for British Airways. He is the third of four children - younger to brother James born in 1977 and sister Rosanna born in 1984, but older than Clarista born in 1992. Both James and Rosanna took an active interest in acting and dancing early on, and young Nicholas' interest was sparked by their interest. He also practiced ballet with his two sisters to the point where he was involved with 'Swan Lake' and 'The Nutcracker' productions with The National Ballet. He attended the Combes Nursery School in Arborfield close to the family home and then Arborfield Church of England Junior School. From there, and with a number of acting credits to his name already he went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London - a specialist performing arts school. At fourteen he joined the Ranelagh School in Bracknell, Berkshire to concentrate on his education free of the pressures of film and television and because he wasn't yet ready to make a life out of acting, despite the success he had enjoyed up to that point. He went onto the Sixth Form College, in Farnborough, Hampshire in 2006, and quit in 2008 to pursue a career in acting to which he had now made up his mind.

Hoult's acting life began at age five in the English London drama film set in the 1950's - 'Intimate Relations' in 1996 with Julie Walters and Rupert Graves, and from there he landed roles in television series including 'Casualty', 'Silent Witness', 'The Ruth Rendell Mysteries' and the made for television film 'Mr. White Goes to Westminster'. These appearances saw out the '90's by which time he was still only ten ten years of age. The new decade launched with episodes on 'The Bill', 'Holby City, 'Doctors', 'Waking the Dead' and 'Murder in Mind' before his breakout role at age just eleven in 2002 in 'About A Boy' with Hugh Grant and Toni Collette. The film was a critical and commercial success gaining numerous accolades, and importantly, Hollywood exposure for the young Actor.

His next big screen role came in the Richard E. Grant Written and Directed 'Wah-Wah' with Gabriel Byrne and Emily Watson. This was followed up quickly also in 2005 with the American drama film 'The Weather Man' Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine. 'Kidulthood' came next in 2006, and BBC television film 'Coming Down the Mountain' a year later, before being cast by Tom Ford in his highly acclaimed multi-award winning Directorial debut 'A Single Man' with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. For his role, Hoult earned a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination, and Tom Ford made him the face of his eyewear collection in 2010. 

In between time, Hoult scored one of the defining roles of his early career in the much acclaimed 'Skins' television series in the role of Tony Stonem across the first nineteen episodes of the first two seasons. The show ran for seven seasons from 2007 through to 2013. He followed this up with an episode on 'Wallander'.

'Clash of the Titans' opened in 2010 with Hoult playing Eusebios alongside an all star cast as Directed by Louis Leterrier. Although the film was poorly received critically, it performed well at the Box Office picking up close to US$500M. 'X-Men : First Class' as Directed by Matthew Vaughn saw Hoult's first outing in the re-booted 'X-Men' franchise as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast - a genius scientist with mutant abilities similar to that of the great apes. Hoult reprised his role in 2014's 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' and in this years 'X-Men : Apocalypse'. The three films took a combined worldwide Box Office haul of US$1.65B.

The ZomRomCom 'Warm Bodies' and 'Jack the Giant Slayer' came next in 2013, 'Young Ones' in 2014, 'Dark Places' in 2015 and then the critically lauded George Miller re-boot of his Max Rockatansky creation made famous by Mel Gibson back in the day with 'Mad Max : Fury Road'. 'Kill Your Friends' closed out 2015. This year has seen 'Equals' with Kristen Stewart, and the as yet to be released 'Collide' with Ben Kinglsey, Anthony Hopkins and Felicity Jones.

Next up is Iraq War drama 'Sand Castle' with Henry Cavill currently in post-production; historical biopic 'The Current War' with Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Tom Holland; and 'Rebel in the Rye' with Kevin Spacey and Hoult playing J.D. Salinger the author of acclaimed 1951 novel 'The Catcher in the Rye' - both are in pre-production for a 2017 release. Currently filming is the animated television mini-series 'Watership Down' for BBC Television and Netflix to which Hoult is lending his voice talents in the voice of 'Fiver' alongside Ben Kingsley, James McAvoy, John Boyega and Gemma Arterton. 

So far Hoult has 43 acting credits to his name, and he has picked up three award wins and another eleven nominations. He has worked with several charities over the years including the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), The Teenage Cancer Trust, The Save the Children Fund, The Small Steps Project and the Jeans for Refugees Project.

Nicholas Hoult - former choirboy, former basketball player, avid motorsports fan particularly the F1, and partakes in go-karting and both on and off track motorcycling. His middle name means 'The Beloved One' in Welsh, and his great aunt was acclaimed English Actress of the '30's, '40's and '50's Dame Anna Neagle. A star very much on the rise and one to watch out for having achieved so much already in his 27 years - Happy Birthday to you Nicholas, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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-

MAD MAX : FURY ROAD - Saturday 16th May 2015.

After an absence of thirty years Max Rockatansky is back with a bigger, bolder, budget busting effort by Director and originator George Miller once again at the helm in this fourth instalment in the franchise. 'MAD MAX : FURY ROAD' hit our screens only this week with all the anticipation and hype associated with this long awaited cult series follow-up. Having spent the last twenty or so years in development hell, the notion for a script had been locked away in Millers head for a very long time but global events, location shooting, studio changes, the political landscape and even the weather all conspired to create delay after delay. Finally with the green light switched on filming started shooting in Namibia in mid-2012 and US$150M later the film is here . . . finally!

The Mad Max back catalogue is impressive enough to warrant all the hype about this cult film series that began way back in 1979, with the release of 'Mad Max' with a young fresh faced Mel Gibson in the title role as our titular hero and damaged police patrol cop. That film was made for just AU$400K and grossed over US$100M at the global Box Office, and for many years until 1999 stood as the most commercially successful film of all time on a dollar for dollar basis, until the release of 'The Blair Witch Project'. 'Mad Max : The Road Warrior' was released in 1981 with Mel Gibson again starring, and generated US$40M+ including after sales off a US$4.5M budget. 1985 saw the last instalment up to now ' Mad Max : Beyond Thunderdome' with Mel Gibson again, and Tina Turner acting and singing the title track,  with US$36M+ from an initial US$12M budget - the most lacklustre of the series thus far.

I can remember watching 'Mad Max' and 'Mad Max : The Road Warrior' back to back in a special double bill feature at the Odeon Leicester Square in London in about 1983, and being stunned by the story, the visuals, the energy of these films and the benchmark set for all such future dystopian post-apocalyptic offerings. And, so I went in to see 'Mad Max : Fury Road' last night with high expectations, and I have to say came out feeling a little underwhelmed.

Tom Hardy now takes on the lead role as Max Rockatansky and he does a solid enough job as a broken man whose only instinct now is to 'survive' by any means necessary. We are set about 45 years after the world has gone belly up and everything is scarce - food, water, oil and fuel and humans prey on humans at just about every turn. The last vestiges of any form of civilisation seem to have been long gone, leaving only now a dystopian disfigured downtrodden population all vying for the new world currency - water, fuel and bullets - all of which are in short supply. Out in the desert 'The Citadel' looms large as an oasis of rock, water supply, greenery and a burgeoning diseased population overseen by tyrannical leader King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who also played 'The Toecuter' in 1979's 'Mad Max'). His followers are 'The War Boys' who capture Max early on, keep him locked up in a cage, tattoo his back and designate him a universal blood donor. Max is a brooding fractured man of very few words and says little throughout the film - letting his actions clearly speak louder!

Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) drives a heavily armoured War Rig to collect gasoline and other supplies for Joe from nearby settlements - Gas Town and Bullet Farm - and so heads off on her regular supply trip with outriders for protection. En route it is revealed that Furiosa is carrying 'The Five Wives' - five young beautiful girls who are Joe's breeding stock, and one is heavily pregnant with his child. Furiosa makes a decision to head off track to seek safe haven far way to 'The Green Place' across the treacherous 'Wasteland' but is quickly pursued by Joe and his entire army of War Boys when the truth is made known to him.

What follows on is a film dominated by several extended chase sequences across the barren landscape of the desert as Max at first is strapped to the front of a vehicle by Nux (Nicholas Hoult) in hot pursuit of the War Rig, all the while drip feeding his precious blood supply to a dying Nux back in the cab behind the wheel of his menacing souped up heavily armed dune bashing vehicle. Eventually after much death, destruction and vehicular mayhem the War Rig continues its journey leaving a crashed Nux & Max and countless others buried in a sand dune somewhere still shackled together. When Max comes round he spies the War Rig in the distance and begins his journey on foot, carrying a seemingly dead Nux on his back, because the two are still chained. After a fist fight with Furiosa and now Nux who has regained consciousness, Max takes the vehicle leaving the girls behind, with Joe's army in the hazy distance heading towards them still in pursuit.

It's not long before the girls catch-up given that Furiosa has several 'kill-switches' installed inside the rig to prevent such eventualities, and so Max has little choice but to take them on board and to get the hell outta Dodge before them pesky varmint War Boys descend again! And so of course this leads to the next high octane set piece that sees Joe and his War Boys nudge ever closer through a canyon as Furiosa seeks safe passage in exchange for a payload of gasoline to the keepers of the canyon pass. Blocking further passage of the War Boys behind them through an orchestrated rock fall, the War Rig heads off but not before Joe in his 4WD Monster Truck is able to scale the rock slide and head off in pursuit once more, joined this time by the canyon dwellers who have just seen their fuel payload go up in billowing black smoke!

And so the journey continues with more car-nage, more death, more destruction and more vehicular mayhem as cars, trucks and bikes crash out in spectacular fashion, bodies are flung far & wide, fist fights and close quarter attacks take place at 120 MPH atop those rigs & trucks, and flames and smoke billow out of exhaust systems as every inch of acceleration is sought to gain the upper hand.

It's much the same as we saw in the opening sequence except a different location this time, and then when the dust settles we get some reprieve from the fast paced action as Max, Furiosa, Nux and the now Four Wives all spend a little time getting acquainted and start to bond. This is the obligatory calm before the storm before the final set piece where all Hell will let lose as Joe musters every last vehicle and every last War Boy to retrieve his remaining breeders and dispense with Furiosa and Max. As Furiosa drives on they arrive at a place she recognises and states her affiliation to a clan where she used to live with her mother. From here they decide to abandon the truck and head across the salt plains to another place and sanctuary beyond they believe . . . but it is a 160 day journey which they will have to do on motorbike. They head off, leaving Max behind of his own choice. Considering his fate, he follows on a motorbike to catch them up revealing a plan to return to The Citadel where they can begin afresh with clean water and a new life in safety. They agree, and so retrace their steps in the War Rig.

Of course, it is not long before they come head to head with Joe and his War Boys and so it's on again for young & old and more well choreographed vehicular stunt work as more cars, trucks, bikes of every description collide, get overturned, get burned out, flipped, nudged, shunted and ground down into the desert dust before our heroes arrive back at The Citadel - although they have paid a price! It is all very well executed and deftly handled to deliver road movie carnage to this level with expert practical stunt work combined with cutting edge CGI, but by the third set piece and relentless chase sequences it all begins to get a little predictable and a little wearing I found.

I couldn't really warm to Tom Hardy's Max as I did with Mel Gibson's but maybe it is just because now after all these years in the wilderness Hardy's Max is more grizzled, emotionally bereft, and has witnessed more death, destruction and loss than he would care to remember which causes him to experience visions of past memories he would rather forget! That said I question too why such a group would go through so much adversity, conflict, terror and danger along their journey, only to turn around and go back from whence they came, knowing that they may not even make it given what they know lies in front of them! And the action set pieces as good and as convincing as they are just dominate the film from end to end in seemingly never ending road rage written on the grandest scale - I was getting bored toward the end of the monotony and repetition of I was seeing - surely there are only so many ways to skin a cat! I was looking for a little more depth, more character development (although perhaps Miller assumes we know Max's back story - but what happened in the intervening years I wonder, and what about Furiosa too) and perhaps an insight in to the world as it now is and how The Citadel came to be.

At the time of writing 'Mad Max : Fury Road' had grossed US$27M with largely very positive reviews, but for me the jury is out and for the reasons stated above I was a little underwhelmed by it all. I shall probably go see it again to satisfy myself that my views expressed here are validated. I have no doubt that this film will do well enough catering for a whole new audience not familiar with Miller's three previous Mad Max outings, its young adult action appeal, the pedigree of its predecessors and the stylised video game action sequences. See it for yourself on the big screen and you decide, and then let me know what you thought.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-